Import/Export factors
Import Factors
Import Factors: If a company wants to import a product to Colombia, it will have to recognize some basic steps. Which are:
1. Registering as an importer. Companies must have the Unique Tax Register, which identify, allocate, and classify subjects of obligation that are controlled and administered the National Directorate of Taxes and Customs.
2. Location of the tariff sub-regime: The DIAN is the only authorized entity to determine tariff classification, but companies can utilize the informal aid offered by the Enterprise Information Center.
3. Study of Market: Make a market study and assess the economic feasibility of the import, analyzing, among other things, price of the product in the international market, costs of international transport, costs of nationalization, and other expenses that arise.
4. Identification of the product: Verify the tariff sub-regime of the product to determine the customs tributes
5. Import exchange procedure: The Exchange Regime establishes the obligation to channel the payment through the intermediaries of the authorized market exchange by law (commercial banks, financial corporations, etc.)
6. Other proceedings: Verify the terms of negotiation (incoterms), and if the international transport fee has to be paid, contract the transporting company with which the transport of merchandise will be handle to define the costs for the transfer to the Colombian port.
7. Process of Nationalization: Once the merchandise reaches Colombia and is under the Customs Deposit, the request of a pre-inspection for the submission of Import Declaration and other documents is recommended. When imports surpass one thousand American dollars (USD 1,000), services from a customs agency will need to be contracted to oversee this process.
Additionally, there are some Import Tariffs that every company must know. Most of Colombia’s duties 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; and milk and cream, which are subject to a 98 percent duty.
Export factors
The Republic of Colombia is the fourth largest economy in Latin America. It is the only country in South America with two seacoasts (Pacific and Caribbean), which provides tactical shipping advantages in today’s global market. Aided by major security improvements, steady economic growth, and moderate inflation, Colombia has become a free market economy with major commercial and investment ties to the United States, Europe, Asia, and Latin America.
Colombia is unique in that there are five bona fide commercial hubs in the country: Bogota, Medellin, Barranquilla, Cali, and Cartagena. While these cities, and many other secondary cities, offer unique market opportunities, they are close enough via air routes that are common to have one partner to cover the whole country.
Exports contract at a steeper rate in November
In November, exports shrank 37.7% over the same month last year, which was deterioration from October’s 36.9% drop. According to the National Statistical Office (DANE), the result came on the back of sharper falls in exports of petroleum and oil derivatives as well as mining products. Imports declined 22.8% in October, which was slightly less than September’s 22.6% contraction. The trade balance recorded a USD 1.6 billion deficit in October, which was a deterioration from the USD 1.3 billion deficit recorded in the same month of the previous year.
Panelists participating in the Latin Focus Consensus Forecast expect that exports will rise 15.5% in 2016 and expand 8.6% in 2017.