Colombia works to improve its agro-industrial exports to Europe

The Colombian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism (MINCIT), ProColombia and the European project AL-INVEST Verde have organised the closing event of the Colombia Exporta Sostenible project in which they have shown the results of action between them and the roadmap that will guide and enhance the Colombian agro-export sector jointly.

During the event, Andrés Castellanos, ProColombia's Vice President in charge of Exports, assured that "sustainability is a vital issue in ProColombia's strategy to support the internationalisation of Colombian entrepreneurs, and in the Ministry's Reindustrialisation Policy for energy transformation towards sustainable productive development". Furthermore, he pointed out that "Not only do products that have a positive impact on the environment and communities have a greater commercial opportunity in markets such as Europe, but they also obtain better prices for payment".

"From AL-INVEST Verde, we are confident that this action has served to strengthen government-business collaboration in the export of sustainable products and has fostered multi-stakeholder dialogue on sustainable production and trade, both nationally and internationally," said Ingrid Jenezova, director of the European AL-INVEST Verde programme.

Following the approval of the European Green Pact, the roadmap has been presented as a means to articulate and visualise the strategy to be followed to maintain or increase exports to the European market in each of the Colombian agro-industrial sectors considered. On the other hand, it becomes a fundamental instrument to prepare the country for the economic, social and environmental challenges that are currently being faced.

Prioritised sectors

The "Colombia Exporta Sostenible" project began in March 2023 to identify the challenges, opportunities and needs of seven Colombian agro-industrial sectors in the face of the new sustainability requirements for exports to the European Union. The sectors analysed were coffee, cocoa, cane sugar, sacha inchi, fresh flowers, fresh fruit and palm oil.

In order to carry out this analysis, 35 EU actors (traders, producer associations, supermarkets, etc.) and 106 Colombian actors (public and private sector, academia, etc.) were interviewed, 240 surveys were received from Colombian companies and 25 field visits were carried out in various departments.

As a result of the analyses, a virtual training course will be launched on regulations, financing methods and recommendations, among other topics, with the aim of facilitating the sustainability of exports to the European Union. The course will consist of two modules: In the first, general information on European sustainability regulations is presented, and in module two, the specific sustainability requirements of each sector analysed will be presented, and practical recommendations can be made to adapt to the new requirements of the European market.

In addition, companies will be able to access practical guides with information on Colombian public and private entities that can support the process of adapting to these new requirements.

The presentation of the results was attended by representatives of the Government, the European Union, international cooperation, trade unions and other private sector actors.