Colombia Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in colombia, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Customs Laws and Regulations
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Colombia has made a significant update to its customs regime, introducing new mandatory procedures for almost all import shipments. Decree 659 of 2024, issued by the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, partially modifies the existing Customs Regime established under Decree 1165 of 2019 by requiring the Advanced Import Declaration (Declaración Anticipada de Importación) to be submitted at least 48 hours prior to the arrival of cargo in Colombia.

You can find more detailed information about the Advanced Declaration requirement in the Import Requirements and Documentation section.

Once the Advanced Declaration requirements are fulfilled and the cargo has arrived in Colombia, the following steps must be completed to clear the goods through customs:

  • Make arrangements with a Customs Agency or customs broker, as this is highly recommended to ensure compliance with all procedures and to streamline clearance.
  • Customs inspects the merchandise and when they consider it necessary and then authorizes withdrawal of goods.
  • Fill out the “Andean Custom Value Declaration” (Declaración Andina de Valor en Aduana) when the import value is equal to or more than $5,000.00 FOB.
  • Fill out the Import Declaration (‘Declaración de Importación’). When the import value is equal to, or more than $1,000.00 Customs Brokers should do all the paperwork and clear the shipment through Customs.
  • Go to an authorized financial entity and pay the import duties, VAT, surcharges, and other fees.
  • Present all documents to customs.
  • The importer must keep import documents for a period of no less than five years.


Customs officials are responsible for inspecting merchandise to verify that the description and classification are consistent with the importer’s declaration. A customs inspection group often performs after-clearance random investigations to detect fraud, foreign exchange irregularities, and tax evasion. Major customhouse brokers have a customs office in their own bonded warehouses where most clearance procedures are completed before the merchandise is delivered to the customer.  

Contact Information
Colombian National Tax and Customs Directorate (DIAN).
Carrera 8 Nº 6C - 38 Edificio San Agustín, Bogota D.C., Colombia
Tel: (+57) 601 489 9000 – (+57) 601 794 888
https://www.dian.gov.co/

Resources
Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism 
Colombian National Tax and Customs Directorate (DIAN)
Identify and Apply Rules of Origin
Customs Info Database Tariff Lookup Tool

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