Costa Rica’s official time is entering a new era following the entry into force of Executive Decree No. 45790-MEIC. The regulation modernizes the technical and legal procedures used by the country to establish its national time reference with extreme precision, replacing methodologies that had been in place for over a century.

The modification does not involve moving clocks forward or backward, nor does it alter the country’s current time zone. Instead, the update focuses entirely on the scientific framework behind how time is defined, aligning national standards with international high-precision benchmarks.

Atomic Clocks Will Anchor National Time Standard

Under the new decree, responsibility for safeguarding national time standards lies with the Time and Frequency Laboratory (ICE-Lametro), operated by the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE). The facility relies on state-of-the-art atomic clocks to maintain accurate measurements.

These specialized devices form part of a global network of atomic timekeeping instruments that collectively establish Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)—the primary international reference for civil time. By connecting directly to UTC infrastructure, Costa Rica ensures high precision across telecommunications, financial services, legal records, and public infrastructure.

The updated framework does not change everyday hours for citizens, businesses, or public institutions. Rather, it guarantees that the technical baseline behind Costa Rica’s official time meets modern scientific criteria.

New Online Verification Platform Launched

Historically, one of the main ways residents checked official time in Costa Rica was by placing a telephone call to line 1112. To modernize access, ICE has deployed a digital platform that allows anyone to verify the national time reference in real time from any internet-connected device.

By visiting relojweb.cn.ice.go.cr, users can view both Costa Rica’s official time and Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The web tool automatically calculates the offset between the official reference and the internal clock of the user’s computer, tablet, or smartphone, enabling quick diagnostics for device synchronization.

This technological upgrade replaces century-old methods with a resilient, standardized system supported by national measurement patterns and international scientific cooperation.

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