On September 3, the floor of the House of Representatives passed a bill that requires traders to make payments to their suppliers in less than 60 calendar days from the date of receipt of goods or termination of the provision of services. The promoters of the bill are representatives Wadith Manzur (Conservative Party-ruling party), Fabio Arroyabe (Liberal Party-Independent), Juan Pablo Celis (Democratic Center-ruling party) and Mauricio Toro (Green Alliance Party-opposition). The bill will now pass to the Senate, where it is expected to be debated by the Third Committee in the coming weeks.

Mauricio Toro said “we are sending a message as the Congress of the Republic to all entrepreneurs in the country that they can move forward with their businesses, generate jobs, opportunities and taxes, which is what we are aiming for”. Wadith Manzur added that the bill seeks in part to tackle “the [overly] dominant position that large and medium sized entrepreneurs exert over small and micro enterprises,” so that the latter are able to “survive and are not condemned to fail”. Finally, Manzur said that “it has been a concerted bill, which will soon yield benefits for micro and small businesses”.

The bill obliges traders to pay their suppliers in less than 60 calendar days from the date of receipt of goods or completion of the provision of services. However, it allows large companies who tsade together to agree on different payment terms between themselves. The regulation would enter into force three years after its promulgation, and would establish a transition period during which the payment term will initially be 60 days, and then after a period of three years, 45 days.