Colombian law provides that a visitor may temporarily bring into Colombia, duty free, articles for professional use during their stay in the country. The items enter under the responsibility of the visitor who declared them at the start of the trip, and it is his/her personal responsibility to re-export them from the country. The entry of such items will be evidenced in the visitor’s passport and failure to re-export them implies a customs offence before the DIAN (Colombian Customs/Taxes Office).
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE ENTRY OF EQUIPMENT ON COMMERCIAL FLIGHTS:
- Provide a detailed list of the equipment entering the country, including serial number, weight, and customs value.
- When the DIAN official asks you if there’s anything to declare when entering Colombia, the answer must be yes. This will initiate the equipment declaration process.
- Please note that the equipment declaration process may take several hours, especially if you have a connecting flight inside or out of Colombia.
IMPORT THROUGH A CUSTOMS BROKER
In the case of audiovisual projects entering cargo (equipment, apparatus, and filming materials) items into the country for 6-month periods (extendable for six more months):
- If your project is a foreign cinematographic work (feature film or short film), you must obtain the Authorization to shoot in national territory, issued by the Ministry of Culture, by sending these documents to the following e-mail addresses: idacosta@mincultura.gov.co and to griano@mincultura.gov.co. This service is free of charge.
- If your project is a foreign audiovisual format other than a cinematographic work (series, music videos, video games, among others), you must request the Certification of customs procedures through the Colombian Film Commission. This service has a cost of 1 legal Colombian monthly minimum salary per application. Follow the INSTRUCTIONS FOR APPLICATION FOR CUSTOMS PROCEDURES to complete this procedure.
Once you obtain the Authorization to shoot in national territory or the Certification of customs procedures, as the case may be, you must conduct the import or export procedure through a Customs Agent (there are about 100 authorized in the country). Contact the company you contracted as a production service provider for guidance on how to contact authorized customs brokers in the country.
Remember to keep all supporting documents for your application, they may be requested at any time by the customs authority.
