Before accessing Colombian market, we need to know whether our product is subject to any type of approval certification or not. If yes, we need to obtain this approval before the products are exported, sold, or used within the territory of Colombia. Otherwise, our product can be declared as uncomplied, illegal, and too risky of being recalled. Besides, the importer or manufacturer are potentially being sanctioned by the authority too. That’s why understanding what products are covered by Colombia Type Approval is very important.
Then, what products are covered by Colombia Type approval? Mostly, Colombia requires the following products to be type-approved by their authority:
- Satellite equipment,
- Mobile terminal equipment (MTE),
- Cellular devices (voice and data), and
- Products that connect to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)
Then, how about short-range device or SRD products? At the moment, SRDs are not actually mandatory to do type approval certification in Colombia. But their authority requires these products to be registered by the Ministry of Communications. Therefore, manufacturers need to register the product documentations to ministry. After registration, if the Ministry approve, they will issue a letter stating that the product is already approved to operate within the country. This registration letter is required to obtain prior to the importation or before selling the product in Colombia.
Why We Care
When we are about to sell our product in Colombia, we need to know what type of approval is required. If our product is subject to an approval certification there, then we must obtain it before selling the product there. Because if we missed the required Colombia Type Approval certification, our product can be banned from market. Or even the distributor is facing the risk of getting sanctioned by the government. Therefore, before accessing Columbia market, it is a necessity for us to know what products are covered by Colombia Type Approval to determine whether our products are covered or not.