The Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation is supporting Colombia in strengthening its risk management system for agricultural products, cutting costs and delays in shipments and boosting the competitiveness of Colombian products worldwide.
We are also modernising the national system for the exchange of electronic phytosanitary certificates, allowing Colombia to better engage with international trade partners.
Trade risk management practises in Colombia, particularly in the agricultural sector, rely heavily on physical inspections of goods, leading to delays in shipments and extra costs for traders. Processes also tend to focus more on the control of goods than on the control of data, resulting in inefficient use of resources and, ultimately, lower rates of risk detection.
Additionally, phytosanitary certificates controlling the import and export of plant and plant products are issued in hard copy and transferred between traders and government agencies by post or courier. This manual procedure can make for a time-consuming and cumbersome process prone to errors, loss, theft, or fraud.
In implementing this project, the Alliance is drawing on its previous work with the Colombian Food and Drug Agency (INVIMA) on risk management and its experience in implementing the IPPC’s ePhyto solution in several countries including Cameroon, Ecuador, Fiji, Jordan, Madagascar, Morocco, Senegal and Thailand.