MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Colombian President removes tariffs from agricultural inputs

The measure is aimed at making the ecological transition towards a more sustainable agriculture easier

Colombian President Iván Duque has signed into law the new initiative which applies 0% tariffs on imports of inputs for agriculture and livestock production while creating a fund to benefit small and medium local businesses. The measure seeks to lower costs for medium and small farmers, in addition to encouraging the use of environmentally friendly inputs.

“Colombia becomes the first country to have a law that allows facing the price situation of inputs and strengthening the ecological transition towards a more sustainable agriculture,” Agriculture Minister Rodolfo Zea said.

This Agriculture Ministry's initiative was aimed at mitigating global increases in merchandise prices, particularly those necessary for the production of inputs, transport and marketing of products, while encouraging the use of environmentally friendly inputs in agricultural production.

The new Law also establishes 0% of tariffs in order to reduce costs and improve the profitability of farmers and producers in the country. Thus, a fundamental step is established to counter the “distortions” that may occur in the market and address them with comprehensive policies which bring on solutions to the problems.

“This process will be supported by another fundamental factor includeds in the bill, which is the creation of an observatory for the input market, which will allow producers and entities involved to have information on the agricultural input market,“ the Agriculture Ministry said.

The new Law also prioritizes the use of bio-inputs and the possibility of supporting the development of new projects in the country, such as the production of agricultural inputs and bio-inputs, because the tools allow ”to have a climate-controlled intelligent agriculture, to improve agricultural extension and train producers to use them.”

The Ministry of Agriculture of Colombia announced last December that during 2021 about 487,000 farmers benefited from different programs and strategies aimed at the economic reactivation of this sector through special credit lines.