The Special Import-Export Systems, known as Plan Vallejo, allow exporters and manufacturers to temporarily import inputs, raw materials, capital goods and spare parts with exemption or suspension of customs taxes (or deferral of VAT, depending on the program) in exchange for assuming, and proving, export commitments before the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism (MinCIT). The benefit is neither automatic nor free: it requires an authorized program, an import quota, an Input-Output Table (CIP) where applicable, demonstration studies and the correct termination of each temporary import before DIAN. If the commitment is not met, customs taxes become payable, MinCIT sanctions follow and, once the deadlines lapse, the goods can be seized and forfeited. Ligal designs and defends the program end to end, with its own lawyers and accountants.
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The Special Import-Export Systems (SEIEX), popularly called Plan Vallejo, are defined in Article 4 of Decree 285 of 2020 as the operations or programs that, under Decree-Law 444 of 1967, Decree 631 of 1985, Law 7 of 1991 and the rules that amend them, allow the temporary import into Colombian customs territory, with total or partial exemption or suspension of customs taxes or with deferral of VAT, of inputs, raw materials, intermediate goods, capital goods and spare parts used to produce export goods, used for services directly linked to that production or export, or used to export services. Goods imported this way are placed under restricted disposition: they may not be sold or put to a use other than the authorized one while that status lasts (Art. 31, num. 9). Individuals and legal entities, business associations, consortia and temporary unions may apply if they are domiciled or legally represented in Colombia, registered in the RUT as importers (and as exporters where applicable), have the right corporate purpose and lack the cancellation or non-compliance history described in Article 19.
Two clarifications avoid the costliest mistakes. First: Plan Vallejo is not a free-trade zone and not just any temporary import. In a SEIEX, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism (Foreign Trade Directorate) approves a program with an import quota and export commitments and monitors compliance; DIAN controls the temporary import, its termination and the customs consequences (Decree 1165 of 2019, Arts. 228 to 239). The Ministry's procedure is developed by MinCIT resolution, including Resolution 1055 of 2020: operators must always apply the resolution in force and the IT application the Ministry provides. Second: the benefit varies by program. In the raw-materials and inputs programs (Arts. 172 and 173 letter b of Decree-Law 444) and in the capital-goods program of Art. 173 letter c, customs taxes are neither assessed nor paid on the temporary import; under Art. 174, customs duties are assessed and paid while VAT is neither assessed nor paid, without prejudice to its payment when the modality ends in an ordinary import. In every case the cost of failing is high: assessment of taxes, MinCIT sanctions and, if the termination deadlines lapse, seizure and forfeiture.
Plan Vallejo key points
We support exporters and manufacturers that need to import inputs or machinery with a customs benefit, from choosing the program to terminating the temporary import and defending the case if MinCIT or DIAN challenge compliance.
01
We analyze what your company imports, what it exports and in what proportion, to determine whether a raw-materials and inputs program (172, maquila, 173 b or replenishment), a capital-goods and spare-parts program (173 c or 174) or a services-export program fits, and what export commitments each would entail. We also assess whether the benefit justifies the monitoring burden and the non-compliance risk.
02
We structure the application to MinCIT's Foreign Trade Directorate under Articles 19 to 21 of Decree 285 of 2020: applicant conditions, documents and financial statements, tariff subheadings, contracts for indirect or maquila operations and an export plan consistent with production capacity, which is the criterion the Ministry uses to set the quota.
03
We prepare and review the CIP required by Article 10 (consumption, waste and disposal of residues), set up control of the import quota, which falls on the user (Art. 31, num. 4), and the reporting of manual declarations (num. 5). An inconsistent CIP can lead to suspension of the program, so we reconcile it with production and accounting.
04
We coordinate the proof of export commitments within each program's deadlines. The study is signed by the legal representative, the contador and the statutory auditor, as applicable (Art. 23), and our accountants prepare the accounting support behind it. Where there is a risk of non-compliance, we evaluate extensions, acceptance of impossibility to comply and the cost of each exit.
05
We define and carry out the way to terminate each temporary import under Article 232 of Decree 1165 of 2019: definitive export of the resulting good, re-export, ordinary import with amendment of the declaration, among others, watching the deadlines that run from MinCIT certifications to avoid seizure and forfeiture.
06
We respond to requests, admonition, suspension or cancellation acts (with the CPACA appeals provided for in Article 33) and to DIAN's actions. If the case leads to seizure, forfeiture or a customs criminal front, Ligal leads the defense end to end with its own team of lawyers and accountants.
A Plan Vallejo program combines foreign trade law, customs, cost accounting and inventory control. Our team brings those disciplines together on a single front.
Director · Tax attorney · Ex-DIAN
Attorney with experience inside DIAN. He knows first-hand how temporary imports, their termination and customs audit actions are controlled.
Senior customs attorneys
Specialists in the application, amendment and termination of SEIEX programs, responses to MinCIT acts, amendment of import declarations, seizure and forfeiture, and defense before DIAN.
Certified public accountants and tax auditors
Experts in reconciling the CIP with costs and production, accounting support for demonstration studies, inventory control and consistency between imports, exports and accounting records.
Authorization and quota are decided by MinCIT's Foreign Trade Directorate based on the conditions, the documents and production capacity measured against the export plan. We prepare the application rigorously; we do not assure its approval.
Selling, disposing of or redirecting goods under restricted disposition to another use, or simulating exports, exposes the user to cancellation of the program, DIAN measures and, depending on the facts, criminal risk. We prefer timely regularization.
Each case depends on the facts, the supporting evidence and the authority's decision. We offer serious legal analysis and technical defense, not guaranteed results.
At Ligal we combine the auditor's inside view with the practical view of the exporter and the manufacturer that imports. We work on real cases of companies that need to structure a program, keep it current before MinCIT and close each temporary import properly before DIAN.
The information on this page is general and does not replace analysis of the specific case: conditions, deadlines, commitments and consequences depend on the authorized program, the MinCIT resolution in force and the applicable customs regulations. No outcome is guaranteed.
Direct contact with management
Juan Santiago Rodríguez Prieto
Director · Tax attorney · Ex-DIAN
We begin with a confidential review of your import and export operation, the program (or project) and any pending certifications, requests or deadlines to define the right roadmap.
01
Initial assessment within one business dayWe review what your company imports and exports, the authorized or planned program, the quota, the CIP, the commitments and the status of temporary imports, and identify risks before MinCIT and DIAN.
02
According to the program and its deadlinesWe define the path with you: new application or amendment of the program, CIP adjustment, demonstration study, or termination of each temporary import (export, re-export or ordinary import), with the corresponding accounting support.
03
Continuous supportWe handle responses to requests and acts of the Ministry and DIAN and, if there is seizure or criminal risk, administrative and criminal defense end to end with the same team.
Frequently asked questions
Plan Vallejo is the popular name of the Special Import-Export Systems (SEIEX). Article 4 of Decree 285 of 2020 defines them as operations or programs that, based on Decree-Law 444 of 1967, Decree 631 of 1985, Law 7 of 1991 and the rules amending them, allow temporary import, with total or partial exemption or suspension of customs taxes or with deferral of VAT, of inputs, raw materials, intermediate goods, capital goods and spare parts to produce export goods, provide services directly linked to that production or export, or export services. The goods remain under restricted disposition. In Decree 1165 of 2019 the corresponding customs modality is temporary import under SEIEX (Art. 228 et seq.).
Individuals and legal entities, business associations, consortia and temporary unions may apply (Arts. 2 and 19 of Decree 285 of 2020). The application is filed with MinCIT's Foreign Trade Directorate through the IT application, and the applicant must be domiciled or legally represented in Colombia and registered in the RUT as an importer (and as an exporter or international trading company where applicable), have the requested activities within its corporate purpose, and, in the previous five years, its shareholders, board members and legal representatives must not have represented companies whose SEIEX program was cancelled, nor may it have Article 31 breaches in existing programs. Article 20 details the documents, including financial statements signed by the legal representative, the certified public accountant and, where required, the statutory auditor.
Under Article 5 of Decree 285 of 2020 there are three families. First: raw materials and inputs, with programs under Article 172 of Decree-Law 444, maquila programs (also under 172), programs under Article 173 letter b) and replenishment programs under Article 179. Second: capital goods and spare parts, under Article 173 letter c) or Article 174. Third: export of services, under Article 4 of Law 7 of 1991. The choice depends on what is imported, what share of output is exported and what commitment the company can sustain. For example, 173 b allows exports to be partial, while 172 requires imported goods to be used entirely in producing export goods. A prior analysis with real figures is advisable before applying.
It depends on the program. In temporary import declarations for raw materials and inputs (Arts. 172 and 173 letter b), for capital goods, parts and spare parts under 173 letter c, and for goods for services export, customs taxes are neither assessed nor paid (Decree 1165 of 2019, Art. 229; Decree 285 of 2020, Arts. 6, 8, 11 and 13). For capital goods, parts and spare parts under Article 174, customs duties are assessed and paid, and VAT is neither assessed nor paid, without prejudice to its payment when the modality ends in an ordinary import (Decree 285, Art. 12). In every program, if the temporary import ends in an ordinary import, the applicable taxes must be assessed and paid (Decree 285, Arts. 6, 7, 8, 11, 12 and 13). The benefit is a conditional suspension or deferral, not a guaranteed definitive exemption.
Those set by Articles 6 to 13 of Decree 285 of 2020, and they change by program. Under Article 172, raw materials and inputs must be used 100% (net of waste, per the CIP) in export goods, and exports must be made and proven within eighteen months after release of the first temporary import declaration (up to 24 or 36 in the agricultural sector); if at least 70% is proven, non-compliance is not declared and the balance must be proven under the terms of Article 6. Under 173 letter b) the minimum commitment is 60% of the products made with the imported goods, with the exported FOB value never below the imported FOB value. Under 173 letter c) it is, in physical units, at least 70% of the production increases over the time needed to depreciate 90% of the goods. Under 174 and for services, at least 1.5 times the FOB value used (174) or imported (services) over that same time. For capital goods, the authorized export period is set in the act of authorization or amendment of the program.
The CIP is the table that relates inputs, consumption and waste to the product; it must be filed through the IT application in raw-materials and inputs and replenishment programs (Decree 285 of 2020, Art. 10). In raw-materials programs it is filed after the program is approved and before exporting, and it stays in place while production conditions do not change; in replenishment programs it is filed with the application. The user is responsible for the truthfulness and consistency of the information in the CIP and in the applications (Art. 31, num. 7). If review reveals inconsistencies showing actual consumption or waste lower than stated, Article 32 provides for suspension of imports (under the terms of that article), and failing to file it on time leads to an admonition. Reconciling it with costs and production reduces that risk.
Article 232 of Decree 1165 of 2019 lists the ways it can end. Among them: definitive export of the good obtained with the imported raw materials and inputs; re-export of capital goods, spare parts and services-export goods within three months after the certification of the compliance level issued by MinCIT; re-export of raw materials and inputs during the program's life; transfer to a free-trade zone; ordinary import; seizure and forfeiture; legalization; voluntary abandonment accepted by the authority; destruction through proven force majeure or fortuitous event; and exit to the San Andrés free port in authorized quantities, which counts as an export. The importer must prove termination before DIAN (Art. 230) and MinCIT certifications are supporting documents (Art. 231).
The consequences are both customs-related and ministerial. In raw-materials and inputs programs (172 and 173 b), if the imported or produced goods are not exported before the demonstration deadline lapses, the user must declare them in ordinary import within thirty business days after the non-compliance certification, paying the customs taxes in force plus a 100% sanction on the tariff (Decree 1165, Art. 234). For capital goods under 173 letter c) and for services, the declaration must be amended within three months after the non-compliance certification, paying taxes and the same 100% sanction (Art. 238); under 174, paying VAT plus a sanction of 10% of the customs value (Art. 239). In addition, Article 17 of Decree 285 ties the tariff amount to the non-compliance percentage certified by MinCIT. If the deadline passes without amending the declaration, seizure and forfeiture follow.
Articles 32 and 33 of Decree 285 of 2020 provide for admonition, suspension of imports under the programs or cancellation of the program, without prejudice to DIAN sanctions and precautionary measures. Examples: an admonition applies, among other cases, when the quota is exceeded, CIPs are not filed on time or changes of corporate name, mergers or legal representation are not reported; suspension, among others, for CIP inconsistencies showing lower actual consumption or waste than stated (under the terms of Article 32), for not filing the demonstration study on time or for breaching the export commitment; and cancellation, among others, for simulated exports established by the competent authority, adulterated documents or a different destination of the goods. The CPACA sanctioning procedure applies with administrative appeals; suspension lasts until the situation is cured and, after one year without cure, the program is cancelled. If several conducts arise from one fact, the most severe measure prevails.
Plan Vallejo (SEIEX) is a program authorized by MinCIT, with an import quota, export commitments and demonstration studies, which underpins a temporary import before DIAN under restricted disposition. It is not a free-trade zone, which is a different regime with its own rules (Article 232 of Decree 1165 only contemplates the exit of goods to a free-trade zone as one way to terminate the temporary import). Nor is it equivalent to an ordinary temporary import without a program, which does not depend on a MinCIT quota or export commitments. Importing under SEIEX without a current program breaches Article 31, num. 2, and cancellation of the program for operating without authorization is provided for in Article 32. That is why correctly identifying the regime before importing is essential.
Ligal structures the application and export plan, reviews the CIP and quota control, coordinates the demonstration study with the accounting support of its accountants, defines and carries out the termination of each temporary import before DIAN and responds to requests, admonitions, suspensions or cancellations from MinCIT. If non-compliance leads to seizure and forfeiture, or if the facts (for example, a destination other than the authorized one) open a smuggling front, Ligal leads the administrative and criminal defense end to end with its own team of lawyers and accountants, without delegating it. We do not promise outcomes: each case depends on the facts, the supporting evidence and the authority's decision.
We analyze your SEIEX program, the CIP, export commitments and termination of the temporary import, or prepare your defense before MinCIT and DIAN in strict confidentiality.