From May 31, 2022, manufacturers and importers in Colombia have three years to register chemical substances for industrial use in the new digital application.  

Colombia released a registration platform for companies to submit information on the use of chemicals in their industrial activities. The deadline is May 30, 2025.  

Decree 1630 of November 30, 2021, aims to regulate the comprehensive management, including risk management of chemical substances for industrial use that are classified as hazardous within the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS) created by the United Nations.  

The Colombian Ministry of Commerce enacted Circular 018/2022 of May 31, 2022, which initiated three years to register chemical substances for industrial use as it is stated in Decree 1630. This is an obligation to register chemicals in Colombia's new National Registry of Industrial Chemical Substances. It is mandated to manufacturers and importers whose chemical substance volumes exceed 100 kg and voluntary to those below 100 kg.   

Information required:  

• annual production and import amount 

• substance identification, including CAS number 

• risk assessment and classification according to the GHS 

• identified substance uses 

Additional compliance steps include:  

• follow SDS and label standards 

• submit information to the national inventory 

• design, implement and make public risk reduction and management actions programs 

Circular 018/2022 establishes the digital application and its filing instructions to register the information requested by the National Inventory of Chemical Substances for Industrial Use, as pointed out in Decree 1630. From the date of its enactment manufacturers and importers have a three-year period to comply with the new registration duties.  

For more information please visit: https://www.mincit.gov.co/getattachment/7ad4c91f-afe6-4c7d-8366-cd2837acf081/Circular-018-del-31-de-mayo-de-2022.aspx  

Colombia has updated its registration process and requirements for the registration of “chemical pesticides for agricultural use” (PQUA) in line with changes to Andean Community (CAN) legislation. 

On August 1, 2022, Resolution 1580 of 2022 of the Colombian Agricultural Institute (ICA) entered into force. The Resolution adapts the notification process to changes to recent changes to CAN law, which sets out the regulatory framework for PQUA.

PQUA were first regulated at a regional level in the Andean Community in 1998, when Decision 436 introduced common registration, control and labelling obligations for all Member States (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru). It was accompanied by Resolution 630 (from 2002), which established a detailed technical manual completing the framework. Under the system, both economic operators involved in the PQUA value chain and the pesticides themselves must undergo registration, with the objectives of protecting human health and the environment, promoting good agricultural practices, and ensuring the effectiveness of agricultural products. 

While the overall structure is maintained, recent updates in CAN law have brought in new versions of both the general framework (now established in CAN Decision 804, adopted in 2015) and the Technical Manual (currently Resolution 2075, established in 2019). 

The recent ICA Resolution 1580 of 2022, adopted in February, incorporated these changes to Colombian legislation and updated the registration process in the country. For operators and products registered under the former framework, it contains a three-month transitional period during which registrations can be transferred without fees. Given that the Resolution entered into force on August 1, 2022, the transitional period will last until November 1, 2022. Afterwards, any applications will be considered to be new registrations and be subject to the new framework.