Colombia has recognized the European Union’s control system as equivalent for exports of certain animal and plant products from France, Portugal and Spain, being with this the first time that Colombia applies for the equivalent inspection control system based on harmonized EU standards.
The consequences from this approval process and changes in regulation with Colombia will be, among others, the simplified registration of export establishments and the improvement of the access to the Colombian market for European exporters of Spain, Portugal and France, while guaranteeing a high level of food safety to the Colombian consumers.
The approval and integration procedure for export of a certain product is completed through two different phases, one related to animal health aspects, which is under the supervision of ICA (Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario); and a second phase covering the food safety aspects under the responsibility of INVIMA (Instituto Nacional de Vigilancia de Medicamentos y Alimentos). However, for those products not considered yet, their incorporation is expected under the supervision of the ICA so they can be integrated in the list of authorized products –action that clearly shows the cooperation between the EU and Colombia to implement and constantly improve the FTA provisions.
In addition, the European Commission will follow in a constantly basis the procedure and its implementation, incorporating to this agreement other interested Member States and progressively increasing the scope of authorized products so they can get advantage as well on the simplifications derived from this process with Colombia.
For more information about the Unified Procedure to export products from the European Union to the Republic of Colombia, here.
