General Standards
Most of Colombia’s trade standards have been consolidated into three tariff levels: 0 percent to 5 percent on capital goods, industrial goods, and raw materials not produced in Colombia; 10 percent on manufactured goods, with some exceptions; and 15 percent to 20 percent on consumer and "sensitive" goods. Exceptions include: automobiles, which are subject to a 35 percent duty; beef and rice, which are subject to an 80 percent duty; milk and cream, which are subject to a 98 percent duty. The agricultural products fall under the Andean Price Band System (APBS) established by Decision 371 of the Andean Community (AC). The AC includes Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. The APBS protects domestic industry with a variable levy by increasing tariffs when world prices fall, and lowering tariffs when world prices rise.
The APBS includes 13 product groups and covers more than 150 tariff lines. This system can result in duties exceeding 100 percent, depending on world commodity prices, for important international exports to Colombia, including corn, wheat, rice, soybeans, pork, poultry parts, cheeses, and powdered milk. The APBS has been suspended for milk powder, rice and white corn.
IMPORT LICENSE
Most of the product import licenses issued by the Ministry of Commerce are issued automatically and are "free". However, there are a number of agricultural products that need pre-approval before the Ministry of Commerce will issue an import permit. These pre-approvals are regulated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MOA) through the issuance of a sanitary or phytosanitary certificate for imports. For example, if the Ministry of Agriculture determines that corn imports are not needed because they may negatively affect domestic prices, it could hypothetically refuse to issue a phytosanitary certificate and thus the Ministry of Commerce will not issue the import permit.
PRODUCT HEALTH REGULATIONS
All processed retail food items, including products imported in bulk for repackaging for retail use without further processing, must be registered and approved by INVIMA. Food products that are sold to restaurants, institutions, or to processors do not need to be registered with INVIMA, otherwise the importers of such products have to fulfill some bureaucratic administrative requirements.
According to the product health regulations, product registration is not required for:
- products that are not subject to any processing, such as grains, fruits, fresh vegetable, honey, etc.;
- products of animal origin that are not subject to any processing (however each shipment of meat and meat products must be approved by ICA in order to be imported);
- products used as raw materials by the food industry or Hotels, Restaurants and Institutions sector in food preparation.
SANITARY REGULATIONS
Products used as raw materials by the food industry sector in food preparation do not need an INVIMA registration, but they do need a sanitary permit from ICA and comply with Colombian labeling regulations. ICA is responsible for the issuance of import sanitary permits for animal products, vegetables, fruits, grains, pet food, dairy products, and agricultural inputs, including seeds. Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) Biotechnology derived seed for planting must be approved by the National Technical Committee (CTN-Bio) in which ICA is a member. The ICA permits detail the zoo-sanitary or phytosanitary (SPS) import requirements for the specific product.
IMPORT TRANSACTION
The international exporters must be aware that their importers in Colombia must follow the basic steps below to complete an import transaction into Colombia:
- When required, obtain import permits from pertinent government agencies. For example: Ministry of Social Protection (for medicines), Ministry of Agriculture (for certain food products), and Civil Aviation Department (for aircraft).
- Buy and fill out the Import Registration form. File the Import Registration form with Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism. The form requires a complete product description and tariff classification.
- Obtain approval from Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism for the Import Registration form or Import License (in the few cases when this is required).
- Make arrangements with a financial entity to pay for the imported goods.
- Ask the exporter to ship goods to a Colombian port.
- Request the Cargo Manifest from the transportation firm.
- Make arrangements with a Customs Agency to receive the merchandise and get it out of customs. The importer must keep import documents for a period of not less than five years.
IMPORT DECLARATION
The importer must submit an import declaration to the DIAN. This declaration includes the same information contained on the import registration form and other information such as the duty and sales tax paid, and the bank where these payments were made. This declaration may be presented up to 15 days prior to the arrival of the merchandise to Colombia or up to two months after the shipment's arrival. Once the import declaration is presented and import duties are paid, customs will authorize the delivery of the merchandise.
LABELING REQUIREMENTS
Specific marks or labels are not required, except for food, pharmaceutical products, and textiles. Labels on processed food products must indicate: the specific name of the product, ingredients in order of amount, name and address of manufacturer and importer, country-of-origin, number of units, instructions for storage and usage (when required), expiration date, and other instructions as required by the Ministry of Social Protection or the Industry and Commerce Superintendent. Labels and illustrations cannot be inaccurate or misleading.
Labels on pharmaceutical products must indicate in Spanish: "for sale under medical, dental or veterinary prescription,” with the generic name, commercial name, net weight or volume, weight or quantity of active ingredients, license number and the lot control number. Products having limited shelf life should include the date of expiration.
Insecticides and other toxic products should display the skull and crossbones, the word "poison" in Spanish, and information regarding usage and antidotes. Products for which there are no antidotes cannot be licensed and can only be used in programs under the direct control of public health authorities.
CONTACTS
Ministry of Foreign Trade, Industry and Tourism (MinComercio)
Mr. Daniel Rico, Point of Contact for Technical Barriers to Trade, Sanitary and Phytosanitary
Calle 28 # 13A-15
Bogotá DC, Colombia
Tel. (571) 606-76-76 x 1690
Fax: (571) 241-04-80 or 241-04-93
puntocontacto@mincomercio.gov.co
ICONTEC
Ms. María Zulema Vélez, Executive Director
Carrera 37 # 52-95
Bogotá DC, Colombia
Tel. (571) 607-88-88
Fax. (571) 222-14-35
