Kolumbien - Geschenke über die Grenze

1. Geschenksendungen im Postverkehr  

1.1 Anmeldung und Deklaration der Geschenksendung

• If the gift is over a certain value it is taxable. The non-taxable amount varies greatly and is subject to change any time. Gift recipients sometimes have to file comprehensive paperwork and being inconvenienced to file it with the Customs Office in Colombia. Sometimes the recipient must pay the taxes to Customs. Some recipients are forced to do so since they are afraid to disappoint the sender and feel obliged to collect the gift regardless of the time, hassle, and money it takes.

• First-Class Mail International and First-Class Package International Service items may not contain dutiable articles. Books and other printed matter, if valued over $20, require consular invoices, and the addressees must obtain import licenses.
• A commercial invoice, numbered, certified and signed by the sender, must accompany each package containing books and periodicals of a commercial nature. In addition, the value of each item, the number of packages comprising the shipment, and gross weight must be shown on the invoice. One copy of the invoice should be sent to the post office of destination.
• A note must be made on each package of the number of books contained therein, its weight and the total number of packages comprising the shipment.
• Packages must be addressed directly to the addressee, as the Colombian regulations do not permit customs entry to be effected by anyone except the addressee or an authorized representative.
• Each shipment valued at $20 or less requires two copies of the sender’s commercial invoice, one of which must be enclosed in the parcel and the other sent under separate cover to the addressee.
• Consular legalization is not needed but the invoice must include a declaration of origin of the merchandise, in Spanish, reading as follows:
  “Certificamos bajo juramento que los precios de esta factura son los mismos que cargamos al cliente y que la mercancia a que se refiere esta misma factura es originaria de (Country of Origin). En fe de lo expuesto firmamos la presente declaracion en (City, State) (Day) de (Month) de (Year) (Signature of shipper)”.
  (Translation: We certify under oath that the prices in this invoice are the same that we charge our customers, and that the merchandise in this same invoice comes from (Country of origin). In faith of which we sign the present declaration at (City, State), on (Date).
• For shipments valued over $20, the sender must have a copy of his or her commercial invoice legalized by a Colombian Consulate, and must prepare 4 copies of a consular invoice, one of which must be sent direct to the addressee with the legalized commercial invoice.
• The addressees in Colombia are required in most cases to obtain import licenses in order to secure delivery of shipments.
• For shipments exceeding $20 in value the addressee is required to send a copy of the import license to the sender, who must submit it to the Colombian Consul when obtaining the consular invoice. If a sender receives a copy of a Colombian import license for a parcel whose value does not exceed $20, he or she must return it to the addressee in Colombia. 
• Consular invoice forms may be obtained and commercial invoices legalized at Colombian Consulates.

• Correspondence, business papers, and documents:
  PS Form 2976-B placed inside PS Form 2976-E (plastic envelope). Endorse item clearly next to mailing label as BUSINESS PAPERS.
• Merchandise samples without commercial value:
  PS Form 2976-B placed inside PS Form 2976-E (plastic envelope).
• Merchandise and all articles subject to customs duty:
  PS Form 2976-B placed inside PS Form 2976-E (plastic envelope).
  Note: For mailers completing PS Form 2976-B or an online combined shipping label and customs form that electronically transmits customs-related data, no additional customs form is required because customs information is incorporated into the form that the mailer must complete.

• Address side of the envelope, package, or card should be reserved for the destination address, postage, labels, and postal notations. If the mail item requires a customs declaration form, mailers may use an electronically generated combined customs form and shipping label.
• Addresses must appear in ink or be typewritten. Pencil is unacceptable.
• The addressee’s full legal name and complete address must appear legibly with roman letters and arabic numerals, all placed lengthwise on one side of the item. For parcels, addresses should also appear on a separate slip enclosed in the parcel.
• Addresses in Russian, Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, Cyrillic, Japanese, or Chinese characters must bear an interline translation in English of the addressee’s full legal name and complete address (including country). If the English translation is not known, the foreign language words must appear in roman characters (either printed or script). 
  Mail may not be addressed to a person in one country “in care of” a person in another country.
• Mail may not be addressed to Boxholder or Householder.
• The following exceptional form of address, in French or a language known in the country of destination, may appear on printed matter: the addressee’s name or Occupant.
• The house number and street address or box number must appear when mail is addressed to towns or cities.
• The address of items sent to general delivery must indicate the addressee’s full legal name and the city and country of destination. The use of just initials, simple given names, fictitious names, or figures is not permitted on articles addressed for general delivery.
• All lines of the delivery address should appear in all capital letters. The city destination must appear in capital letters together with the correct post code number or delivery zone number, if any. The last line of the address must show only the country name, written in full (no abbreviations) and in capital letters. If possible, the address should have no more than five lines Return Address.
• The return address tells the U.S. Postal Service or foreign post where to return a mailpiece that cannot be delivered.
• Due to heightened security concerns, the U.S. Postal Service recommends a complete return address on all mailpieces.A mailpiece may include only one return address, and the mailer must place it so that it does not affect either the clarity of the address of destination or the application of service labels and notations (postmarks, etc.).
• Elements of a Return Address: A complete return address must include the sender’s full legal name  and complete return address in roman letters and arabic numerals — it may not include just initials except where they are an adopted trade name.
• Required Use of Return Address: In bulk mailings, all mailpieces must bear a U.S.-origin return address visible on the outside of the mailpiece. For the purpose of this section, a “bulk mailing” is any IPA or ISAL mailing, or any other mailing paid with an advance deposit account and presented to the U.S. Postal Service for acceptance. In addition, a return address is required for mailpieces bearing a customs form under 123.7.

1.2 Erhält der Empfänger die Sendung Zoll- und/oder Abgabenfrei?

• Import without duty (no taxes, no declaration required): This means that you can enter any merchandise other than personal effects, that does not exceed 10 items of the same class and with a value limit of USD 2000 in total for all the goods to bring.

• With the payment of the single tax: The traveler who meets certain conditions, can enter USD 3000 more in goods, paying a single tax of 15% on the value of this, conditions:

1. Have stayed abroad for at least five (5) days
2. Cannot exceed three (3) additional units of each of the following goods: articles for domestic use whether or not electric, sporting goods, items necessary for the profession, art, or craft.Othe types of items up to ten (10) units of the same class of other articles for personal or family use.
3. Have declared these products correctly in the form provided for it by Customs.
4. Be performed by the same person, only once each year.

• The quotas are individual and non-transferable. For minors, they are reduced by 50%.                                    

1.3 Gibt es allgemeine Wertgrenzen oder produktbezogene Wertgrenzen im Postverkehr?  

• Packages must be addressed directly to the addressee, as the Colombian regulations do not permit customs entry to be effected by anyone except the addressee or an authorized representative. Each shipment valued at $20 or less requires two copies of the sender’s commercial invoice, one of which must be enclosed in the parcel and the other sent under separate cover to the addressee. Consular legalization is not needed but the invoice must include a declaration of origin of the merchandise, in Spanish, reading as follows: “Certificamos bajo juramento que los precios de esta factura son los mismos que cargamos al cliente y que la mercancia a que se refiere esta misma factura es originaria de (Country of Origin). En fe de lo expuesto firmamos la presente declaracion en (City, State) (Day) de (Month) de (Year) (Signature of shipper)”. (Translation: We certify under oath that the prices in this invoice are the same that we charge our customers, and that the merchandise in this same invoice comes from (Country of origin). In faith of which we sign the present declaration at (City, State), on (Date).
• For shipments valued over $20, the sender must have a copy of his or her commercial invoice legalized by a Colombian Consulate, and must prepare 4 copies of a consular invoice, one of which must be sent direct to the addressee with the legalized commercial invoice. 
• The addressees in Colombia are required in most cases to obtain import licenses in order to secure delivery of shipments. For shipments exceeding $20 in value the addressee is required to send a copy of the import license to the sender, who must submit it to the Colombian Consul when obtaining the consular invoice. If a sender receives a copy of a Colombian import license for a parcel whose value does not exceed $20, he or she must return it to the addressee in Colombia.
• Consular invoice forms may be obtained and commercial invoices legalized at Colombian Consulates.

1.4 Bestehen für bestimmte Geschenksendungen Einfuhrauflagen bzw. -verbote?

• Cash; coins; bank notes; molds for bank notes; pieces of paper representing real bank notes or any other bearer bonds;
• coinage machines;
• other articles of value such as platinum, gold, or silver, whether manufactured or not; precious stones; jewelry;
• other valuable articles; and counterfeit and pirated articles.
• Coloring powders and similar.
• Documents having the character of current and personal correspondence exchanged between persons other than the sender and the addressee or persons living with them.
• Fats.
• Live animals, and dead animals not stuffed.
• Exemptions: Bees, leeches, and silkworms, as well as parasites and destroyers of noxious insects exchanged between officially recognized scientific institutions.
• Perishable infectious biological substances.
• Perishable noninfectious biological substances.
• Radioactive materials.
  Note: Colombia prohibits many types of goods, or subjects them to an import license; therefore, the sender should ascertain from the addressee before mailing whether the contents are permitted and whether the addressee holds the necessary documents.

• Exceeding in size and weight. Also exceeding quantity mentioned above.

1.5 Gibt es Abweichungen bei Geschenksendungen von/an Privatpersonen?

• They are all new or used items that a traveler or a crew member may need for their personal use in the course of the trip, taking into account the circumstances of the trip, that are in their accompanied or unaccompanied baggage, or carry them on themselves or in their hand luggage, excluding any merchandise that constitutes commercial delivery.
• On the other hand, there is merchandise different of personal effects, which can be entered with a limitation it can not exceed ten (10) units of the same class because after that number it is considered commercial delivery and this is not allowed in this type of goods importation.
• For cell phones, Decree 2025 of 2015 establishes:
  Smart mobile phones and mobile cell phones may be imported when the traveler takes them with him at the time of entry into the national customs territory and which are part of his personal effects, in quantity not exceeding three (3) units.

2. Geschenksendungen, die im Reiseverkehr mitgenommen werden

2.1 Anmeldung und Deklaration der Geschenksendung    

• The customs authority (DIAN) prepared a declaration format that would be one per family group traveling together, but the quotas indicated are still individual.
• It is not mandatory to declare the merchandise with no duty (quota a), but declaring the merchandise with payment of the single tax (quota b) is mandatory to be entitled to this benefit.
• The payment of the single tax of 15% has to be made in the financial institutions authorized by the DIAN in the ports, airports, or border crossings.

• Books and other printed matter, if valued over $20, require consular invoices, and the addressees must obtain import licenses.
• A commercial invoice, numbered, certified and signed by the sender, must accompany each package containing books and periodicals of a commercial nature. In addition, the value of each item, the number of packages comprising the shipment, and gross weight must be shown on the invoice.
• One copy of the invoice should be sent to the post office of destination. A note must be made on each package of the number of books contained therein, its weight and the total number of packages comprising the shipment.       

2.2 Kann das Geschenk Zoll- und/oder Abgabenfrei im Reiseverkehr eingeführt werden?

• Import without duty (no taxes, no declaration required):
• This means that you can enter any merchandise other than personal effects, that does not exceed 10 items of the same class and with a value limit of USD 2000 in total for all the goods to bring.

2.3 Gibt es allgemeine Wertgrenzen oder produktbezogene Wertgrenzen im Reiseverkehr? 

• With the payment of the single tax: The traveler who meets certain conditions, can enter USD 3000 more in goods, paying a single tax of 15% on the value of this, conditions: Have stayed abroad for at least five (5) days.

1. Cannot exceed three (3) additional units of each of the following goods: articles for domestic use whether or not electric, sporting goods, items necessary for the profession, art, or craft.
2. Othe types of items up to ten (10) units of the same class of other articles for personal or family use.
3. Have declared these products correctly in the form provided for it by Customs.
4. Be performed by the same person, only once each year.

2.4 Bestehen für bestimmte Geschenksendungen Einfuhrauflagen bzw. -Verbote?   

• 8712.00.00.00 Bicycles and other velocipedes (including delivery tricycles), without an engine.
• 8713.10.00.00 Wheelchairs and other vehicles for disabled people, without propulsion mechanism.
• 8713.90.00.00 Other wheel seats and other vehicles for disabled people, whether or not having an engine or other propulsion mechanism.
• 8715.00.10.00 Cars, chairs, and similar vehicles for the transport of children.

• Exceeding in size and weight. Also exceeding quantity mentioned above.

2.5 Gibt es bei Geschenken an bzw. von Privatpersonen Abweichungen?

• No

3. Landestypische Besonderheiten

3.1 Welche Geschenke sind zwischen Geschäftspartnern üblich?

• fine pens and other office accessories
• engraved quality items
• gifts native to your home region
• fine wines
• alcohol such as scotch, vodka, and gin

• Yes

3.2 Zu welchen Anlässen bietet es sich an, Geschenke zu machen (Feiertage, Namenstage, Geburtstage, landestypische Geschenkanlässe)?

• When one is being hosted by a Colombian company.
• Birthdays
• Christmas
• Once a meeting has come to an end

3.3 Welche Geschenke sollten unbedingt vermieden werden?

• Jewelry
• Clothing
• Ties
• Body lotion or any personal hygine item

3.4 Bis zu welchem Betrag sind Geschenke angemessen und mit nationalem Recht vereinbar?

• Gifts are not usually expected at initial meetings but are appreciated. If bringing a gift, a modest one is appropriate.
• Wrapped gifts are not opened when received.