EU Statement at the Trade Policy Review of Colombia, 18 June 2025
On behalf of the European Union, I would like to welcome Colombia's Delegation, led by Mr Felipe QUINTERO SUAREZ, Vice-Minister for external trade, and thank the Discussant, H.E. Mr Raul CANO RICCIARDI (Paraguay) for his introductory remarks.
Chair,
Let me begin by acknowledging the resilience of the Colombian economy, the fifth largest economy of Latin America, in the current challenging environment. During the review period, Colombia managed to maintain macroeconomic stability and return to a path of growth following the COVID-19 shock, supported by a sound fiscal and monetary policy. This resilience is equally reflected in the country’s ability to attract foreign investment and sustain key export sectors. The EU recognises Colombia’s efforts to achieve social cohesion and environmental sustainability while maintaining an open economy and making FDI a cornerstone of its reindustrialisation policy.
As to Colombia's trade policy, the EU welcomes the improvements made during the period under review, notably the measures taken to facilitate investment, such as the implementation of the Single Window for Investment (VUI) and the Foreign Direct Investment Facilitation Service (SIED).
Turning to our bilateral relationship, let me highlight that Colombia is an important strategic and economic partner of the European Union. The EU is Colombia's third trading partner, and the Trade Agreement – applied since August 2013 and fully ratified in November 2024 – supports our bilateral trade relations contributing to a diversification of Colombia's exports.
The EU welcomes Colombia’s strong support for the multilateral trading system and its interest in regional and bilateral negotiations. At a bi-regional level, the EU is monitoring the deepening of the Colombia´s negotiations with other trade partners and associate countries and its efforts to promote regional integration. Regarding our bilateral Trade Agreement, we appreciate Colombia's active and constructive participation in the annual Trade Committee and Sub-Committees. At the same time, we would encourage Colombia to accelerate its procedures for the prompt accession of Croatia to the Agreement and a continued engagement in improving the implementation of the Trade and Sustainable Development Title.
The EU welcomes Colombia’s constructive approach in the WTO work, its participation in the MPIA and the deposit of its instrument of acceptance of the phase 1 of the fisheries subsidies agreement. The EU also welcomes Colombia’s ratification of the Trade Facilitation Agreement in 2020, full implementation of TFA commitments in 2022 and active role in the Trade and Environment discussions. The EU would like to invite Colombia to re-engage in key WTO initiatives, such as the plurilateral Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement, the Services Domestic Regulation and E-Commerce Agreement, which are essential to modern, rules-based trade.
The EU acknowledges Colombia’s overall positive record of complying with WTO notifications obligations. Nevertheless, as of December 2024, Colombia unfortunately still had outstanding notifications in areas such as agriculture, quantitative restrictions, subsidies and countervailing measures, as well as state trading enterprises. The EU encourages Colombia to address this gap in its transparency obligations.
Chair,
Despite the positive overall trading relationship, allow me to highlight some of our concerns and suggestions that are of particular interest to the EU companies and Member States.
Further efforts continue to be necessary in reducing red tape to allow an effective access to Colombia's market. EU operators remain concerned with the highly costly and burdensome import procedures that often require a disproportionate quantity of documents, as is notably the case for sanitary registrations for beverages. One notable example is the pending revision of Decree 162/2021 which sets “Good Manufacturing Practices” certification requirements that are highly burdensome for alcoholic beverages. Another concern is the increasing delays in marketing authorisation procedures for pharmaceuticals. There is also significant potential to improve and expedite border procedures and joint inspection by Colombian government agencies.
In our written questions, we have asked Colombia to explain the rationale behind some of its technical barriers to trade, and we have also expressed concerns about the insufficient implementation of the regionalisation principle for SPS measures. This can lead to disproportionate trade restrictions that do not reflect the actual sanitary or phytosanitary conditions in specific countries. We call on Colombia to address this issue promptly.
Lastly, the EU, as Colombia’s second FDI provider, we encourage Colombia to maintain a stable and predictable investment climate that fosters legal certainty, transparency, and fair treatment. These are key conditions to attract and sustain EU foreign direct investment in the country. EU FDI is currently spread over multiple sectors in Colombia with a strong potential to grow further in priority sectors such as renewable energies, infrastructure or railway projects.
On behalf of the EU, I look forward to a constructive exchange of views during this review and I wish Colombia's delegation the utmost success during its 6th Trade Policy Review.