About

Dole’s tropical fruit products, particularly its pineapples are known throughout the world. A significant portion of the company’s plantations that its fruit products are drawn from are located in Central America, resulting in the international company locating a significant amount of personnel in the region. Juan Carlos Rojas is the most senior legal individual in the legal team for Dole in Costa Rica, and explains that much effort has been made recently to up-skill the team’s regulatory knowledge in anticipation of potential future challenges. ‘We have been training on special subjects to avoid contingencies’, he explains. ‘For example, emphasis has been given lately to UK FCPA Bribery Act and antitrust training’. In common with this approach, the Costa Rican Dole legal team is keen to pursue new processes within the team in order to improve its efficiency, as Rojas explains: ‘Innovation is key in any of Dole departments’ processes, and a good example for us has been a system that reviews contracts in line before its signature in hard copy’. Rojas has a clear vision as to the role of the legal team and general counsel at Dole: ‘A general counsel has to gain the trust of management and be a source of consultation for any important matter’, he explains, ‘and at Dole we believe that the legal