Costa Rica’s Ministry of Health (Ministerio de Salud) regulates medicines and health products. The country has a functioning pharmacy system where many prescription drugs are available more easily than in the US. Enforcement of unregistered “research chemical” peptides is comparatively light — but light enforcement is not legality.

GLP-1 products (semaglutide/Ozempic-type) are available in Costa Rican pharmacies, typically with a prescription — weight-loss clinics are common. Research peptides (BPC-157, GHK-Cu, CJC-1295, etc.) are not registered medicines; they are sold openly by local suppliers in a grey zone that authorities have shown little appetite to police for personal-use quantities.

Because a local verified supplier exists, importing is rarely necessary. Community advice: buy domestically to avoid customs friction entirely. International orders are less scrutinized than in Singapore or the UAE, but package seizure is always possible.

For Costa Rica expats: (1) local suppliers make domestic sourcing easy and low-risk; (2) GLP-1s via pharmacy/prescription are the lawful route for weight-loss peptides; (3) research peptides are a tolerated grey zone — but “tolerated” can change, and sellers operate without registration; (4) this is NOT legal advice — for certainty, consult a Costa Rican lawyer.