The Ministry of Finance is working on a draft decree that excludes from the sales tax (VAT) drugs that are introduced and commercialized in the Colombian departments of Amazonas, Guainía and Vaupés. The bill is available for comments and observations until March 8th.

The text defines medicines as pharmaceutical preparations obtained from active ingredients, with or without auxiliary substances, presented under a pharmaceutical form that is used for the prevention, relief, diagnosis, treatment, cure or rehabilitation of the disease.

Likewise, among the goods excluded from VAT in these regions are homeopathic medicines meeting requirements stated in the official pharmacopoeias accepted in the country.

The bill also indicates that “for the purposes of the provisions of this article, the importer, in addition to registering as such in the Tax Unique Registry (RUT), must inform in the import declaration that the product will be destined exclusively for consumption in the department subject to the benefit.”