CO · Coverage
Colombia
Colombia has coasts on the Caribbean and the Pacific. Cartagena handles most of the country's container traffic, Buenaventura is its main Pacific port and Bogotá operates the largest cargo airport in Latin America.
Customs authority
National Tax and Customs Directorate (Dirección de Impuestos y Aduanas Nacionales, DIAN)
Main seaports
- Cartagena
- Buenaventura
- Barranquilla
- Santa Marta
Cargo airports
- El Dorado International Airport, Bogotá
Free zones and special regimes
Free zones are governed by Law 1004 of 2005 and Decree 2147 of 2016; they can be permanent, special permanent or temporary, with special tax, customs and foreign trade treatment.
Good to know
- The customs regime is mainly regulated by Decree 1165 of 2019.
- DIAN's electronic invoicing system includes the sales invoice, the electronic payroll support document, the support document for purchases from parties not required to invoice, equivalent documents and RADIAN (Resolution 000165 of 2023).
- In 2025, the Cartagena port zone handled about 65% of the country's TEUs.
- El Dorado moved more than 800,000 tonnes of cargo in 2025.
How we work in Colombia
RealCore advises operations in Colombia remotely and through on-site visits from its headquarters in Panama.
See all 8 servicesSources
- DIAN – Normograma: Decreto 1165 de 2019, Régimen de Aduanas
- DIAN – Normograma: Decreto 2147 de 2016 (zonas francas)
- Función Pública – Ley 1004 de 2005
- DIAN – Resolución 000165 de 2023 (factura electrónica)
- Superintendencia de Transporte – Tráfico portuario en Colombia, enero a junio de 2025
- Analdex – Informe tráfico portuario en Colombia, enero a diciembre 2025
- Portafolio – El Dorado cierra 2025 con récord
- Alcaldía de Bogotá – El Dorado número uno en América Latina y el Caribe
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