Anti-dumping duties in Colombia: what the importer must know before declaring
MinCIT investigation, provisional duties with pay-or-guarantee, collection on the import declaration and omission risk, with ex-DIAN lawyers and CPAs at your side.

The Investigating Authority is MinCIT's Foreign Trade Directorate, through its Trade Practices Sub-directorate. The investigation usually starts on a written request from the domestic industry and opens by motivated resolution published in the Diario Oficial. Within the following 5 days known importers are notified, and they have 30 days from that communication (extendable by up to 5 more) to return the questionnaire. Two months after the day following publication, a preliminary determination is due, with provisional duties if appropriate. The final decision is adopted by motivated resolution within 5 days of the recommendation of the Trade Practices Committee. The decree's «days» are business days unless stated otherwise.

No. Decree 1794 of 2020 provides that investigations shall in no case obstruct the entry of goods into the national territory. What changes is the economic exposure: while the investigation proceeds, provisional duties may be adopted and, if a definitive duty is imposed, it is collected in the amounts set by the resolution on imports of the covered product. That is why it pays to know from the opening which product, which countries and which producers or exporters are under investigation, and whether your operation is covered. If the importer does not answer the questionnaire, the authority may decide on the facts known to it, including customs databases.

When provisional anti-dumping duties are adopted, the importer, on filing its import declaration, may elect to pay the duty or to post a guarantee with DIAN securing payment, for the term in the resolution and under the customs rules on guarantees. Provisional duties may not exceed 4 months, unless a representative share of exporters expressly requests them (up to 6 months); if a lesser duty is being examined, they may apply for 6 months, or 9 at the request of exporters representing a significant share of the trade. If a definitive duty is later imposed, the decree allows, under certain conditions, collecting it retroactively for the period of the provisional measures, so the choice should be analyzed case by case.

Decree 1794 of 2020 defines the anti-dumping duty as a customs tax, and Decree 1165 of 2019 defines customs taxes as customs duties and all other duties, taxes or surcharges collected on or in connection with importation, other than service-cost charges. DIAN applies the duty in accordance with the law and the imposing MinCIT resolution, under the collection, guarantee and procedural rules for tariff levies. The importer or declarant is the taxable person for those taxes, so it must verify whether product, origin and producer or exporter are covered and assess the duty on the declaration or, if provisional, opt for the guarantee.

Omitting or underpaying the duty results in a lesser payment of customs taxes. The customs authority may correct it through an official assessment, collecting the unassessed duty plus the interest and penalties that apply under the customs regime in force; the importer or declarant answers for taxes, interest and penalties (Decree 1165 of 2019, Art. 13). Seizure and forfeiture are not automatic merely for omitting the anti-dumping line: a legal ground under the customs penalty and forfeiture regime must be met, which is a separate analysis. If you detect the error before any requirement is issued, it is worth evaluating with counsel the correction the customs regime allows, because each procedure has its own deadlines.

A definitive duty expires after five years, or sooner if a shorter term suffices to eliminate the injury, and may be extended if the causes persist. Under the sunset review, it is removed at the latest five years after imposition or after the last review covering both dumping and injury, unless a review started before that date finds that removal would allow continuation or recurrence of injury and dumping. The review may be opened ex officio no later than 2 months before the fifth year, or on petition of the domestic industry at least 4 months before. While the review is pending, the duty continues and the importer must keep assessing it.

Interested parties include the petitioner, foreign exporters and producers or importers of the product (and their associations), the government of the country of origin and domestic producers of the like product. An importer known to the authority receives the notice of opening and may answer the questionnaire within 30 days (extendable by up to 5), in Spanish or with an official translation; otherwise it is treated as not filed. It may also submit or request evidence, ask for a hearing after the preliminary determination and file closing arguments. A party that does not take part risks a decision on the facts known to the authority. Full representation of each party is on our trade defense page.