Browse Data and Analysis

In marketing year (MY) 2024/2025, Colombia's sugar production is forecast to remain unchanged from the previous MY at 2.25 million metric tons (MMT) owing in part to the onset of the El Niño phenomenon and its dry weather conditions in the second half of 2023.

Colombia is the largest South American market for U.S. agricultural products and the seventh-largest market for U.S. food and beverage exports globally. Since the U.S. – Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement (CTPA) was implemented in 2012, U.S. agricultural exports have grown by more than 235 percent to a record $3.7 billion in 2023.

Colombia’s food and beverage industry decreased by two percent in 2023 due to stagnating economic growth.

In market year (MY) 2024/2025, Colombia’s corn production is forecast to decrease to 1.5 million metric tons (MMT) influenced by lower domestic corn prices and dissuading farmers from expanding corn cultivation.

In February 2024, U.S. exporters regained market access to the Colombian poultry market, valued at over $100 million annually.

On December 6, 2023, the Ministry of Health of Colombia issued Resolution 2056, by which it amended Colombian Resolution 2013 of 2020 (known as the “sodium rule”). This amendment allows for U.S. exporters to utilize self-declarations to certify compliance with maximum sodium levels in processed products.

This report seeks to provide an initial road map for U.S. companies exporting food products to Colombia. In 2022, the United States exported $3.7 billion in agricultural products to Colombia, which secured its position as Colombia’s top supplier of food and agricultural products.

In October 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Plant and Animal Health Inspection Service and the Colombian Institute for Agriculture agreed on import requirements for U.S. bovine meat and bone meal (MBM) to Colombia. Colombia’s steady economy growth, increasing production of proteins, and growing demand for high quality pet food are creating new opportunities to increase exports of MBM products to the country.

While Colombia´s regulatory environment remains friendly toward the adoption of biotechnology-derived crops and products, congressional anti-biotechnology initiatives pose a threat to further acceptance, and risk undermining future investments to benefit consumers and the agricultural sector.

In market year (MY) 2023/2024, Colombia's coffee production is expected to recover to 11.5 million bags green bean equivalent (GBE) given drier conditions and improved sunlight resulting from the El Niño phenomenon.

Adverse weather conditions and lower domestic prices will constrain Colombia's corn production in market year (MY) 2023/2024, which is estimated to remain flat at 1.5 million metric tons (MMT).

This report outlines Colombia’s requirements for import permits and export certificates for agricultural products intended for human and animal consumption.