MOPT creates Audit Committee to monitor risks and conflicts of interest

The Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT) created its Audit Committee through resolution RES-MOPT-DM-1095-2026, published in La Gaceta No. 201 on Friday, October 23, 2026. The body will function as a non-binding technical and strategic advisory instance for Minister Efraím Zeledón Leiva regarding internal control, comprehensive risk management, and conflicts of interest. The resolution was signed on October 7, 2026, at 14:05 and is effective from its publication in the Official Gazette.

The regulation is based on the General Law of Internal Control, Law No. 8292 of July 31, 2002, the General Law of Public Administration, Law No. 6227, and the Internal Control Standards for the Public Sector (N-2-2009-CO-DFOE). Its direct precedent is resolution R-DC-00123-2025 from 8:30 on October 30, 2025, through which the Comptroller General of the Republic reformed numeral 1.8 and added standards to Chapter II of those norms, incorporating the figure of the Audit Committee as a non-binding advisory instance to the head of the entity.

Among the considerations, the Office maintains that the portfolio needs to strengthen its mechanisms for analysis, monitoring, and advisory in internal control, risks, regulatory compliance, and attention to provisions from oversight bodies. The same edition of the bulletin records the authorization of a technical mission for the project manager of the MOPT/IDB Executing Unit, Ana Yancy Paniagua Cascante, to a Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) workshop in Panama, illustrating the type of public works and multilateral investment portfolio that the new body must monitor.

Composition and suitability requirements

The Committee will be composed of at least three members of the ministerial portfolio, appointed by the minister with proven technical suitability. The regulation requires:

• A university degree with academic training related to auditing, internal control, risk management, public finance, law, or corporate governance.
• A minimum of five years of professional experience in positions linked to these subjects.
• Accredited training when verification is required.
• An accreditation file containing the appointment letter, degrees, certifications, proof of experience, a reasoned assessment of suitability, and declarations of independence and conflict of interest.

Those who, by the ordinary functions of their position, decide, authorize, execute, direct, or directly supervise the processes or controls that the Committee must analyze may not be part of the body. The Presidency is elected by an absolute majority of its members for a period of one year with the possibility of reelection, while the appointment of members is for two years, also re-electable.

Independence, conflicts of interest, and confidentiality

Each member must immediately communicate any personal, professional, occupational, economic, or family situation that generates a real, potential, or apparent conflict, and must annually sign a sworn statement of independence and another regarding the absence of conflicts of interest. In the event of a compromised matter, the regulations provide for temporary abstention, the reassignment of functions within the Committee, or a recommendation to the minister to replace or remove the member when the incompatibility is permanent or structural.

The duty of confidentiality extends to information classified as sensitive or restricted access and persists even after the person leaves the position. Sharing such information with external experts, advisors, or consultants is prohibited, except under legal obligation or a formalized confidentiality agreement. The General Audit and the liaison person with the Comptroller General of the Republic are not part of the Committee nor do they have deliberative powers: they participate with a voice but without a vote.

Functions and Accountability

The body shall advise the head of the institution on the operation of the Internal Control System, analyze the reliability and traceability of financial information, identify critical risks, and alert regarding situations that compromise legality, service continuity, or public assets. It will also provide strategic follow-up to the recommendations of the Internal Audit, external audits, and the Comptroller, without replacing their methodologies.

Regarding operational matters, the regulations establish ordinary sessions at least once a month, a quorum of three members, agreements preferably by consensus and, failing that, by simple majority with a casting vote from the Presidency. Sessions must be recorded in audio and video, and the minutes shall remain under the custody of the Secretariat. The Committee will issue an annual report to the minister and a disclosable executive summary, and will review its own regulations at least every three years.

The new body arrives with a transparency architecture unusual in internal regulation: annual sworn statements, documented records of each conflict, and a publishable executive summary. For a portfolio that concentrates public works, concessions, and multilateral financing, this traceability is the primary guarantee that technical warnings do not go without a hierarchical response.

Source: La Gaceta, No. 201, Friday, October 23, 2026, Executive Branch (Resolutions), pp. 4-8 (official reference: RES-MOPT-DM-1095-2026 / IN202601134515).