Colombia and other countries implement additional measures to facilitate international trade

In view of the current global emergency caused by COVID-19 , the Colombian Agricultural Institute (ICA) continues to facilitate the procedures with other countries for the issuance and approval of certificates for agricultural products and supplies, promoting international trade and providing a response to importers and exporters in Colombia.

In fact, Ecuador, Costa Rica, the European Union, the United States, South Korea, and the Netherlands have announced measures to make import and export procedures more flexible due to the current health emergency. They are as follows:

• Ecuador: Agrocalidad will accept phytosanitary certificates for exports issued in digital form (scanned document), which will be delivered to the exporter following inspection. Once the situation improves, the original document can be submitted. Likewise, for the validation of non-original certificates sent from Ecuador to Colombia, please visit the Agrocalidad site here.
• Costa Rica: The State Phytosanitary Service (SFE) will issue phytosanitary certificates for export through the following which can be verified by accessing their site here.
• European Union: The European Commission will accept electronic export certificates and scanned copies for imports, not requiring the original paper certificates as a temporary working solution in the context of COVID-19.
• United States: APHIS - Plant Protection and Quarantine will accept electronically submitted certificates to facilitate trade of products between the two countries.
• The Netherlands: The official service of the Netherlands will accept sanitary and phytosanitary certificates by e-mail under the following conditions: the scanned document must be a PDF and must be sent directly from the Netherlands Food and Consumer Products Safety Authority (NVWA). The email must contain the health certificate number in the subject line. Scanned certificates should be sent to: ouane.drh.health.certificates.rotterdam@belastingdienst.nl. Similarly, for the electronic exchange of certificates with the e-Cert system, in the event of system failure, the documents should be sent to: phytoCertificatesCovid19@nvwa.nl.
• South Korea: Will accept and send phytosanitary certificates in digital form (PDF files), via the APQA e-mail npqs@korea.kr, and the original copy of the phytosanitary certificate will be sent after the COVID-19 emergency passes.

The ICA considers it important for users to be clear that imports may be received with the presentation of electronic or PDF certifications, with the agreement that the original documents will be turned in upon arrival in Colombia.