Colômbia retira tarifa de defensivos

In the next two years and with the objective of reducing production costs for farmers, some fertilizers and pesticides will have a 0% tariff. The announcement was made by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Colombia, Juan Guillermo Zuluaga, who explained that the benefit was achieved after the request made by the agricultural portfolio to the Committee on Customs, Tariff and Foreign Trade (Triple A Committee).

Some products that will enjoy this condition are ammonium sulfate, double salts and mixtures of calcium nitrate and ammonium nitrate, mixtures of urea with ammonium nitrate, mineral fertilizers and insecticides, among others. The minister stressed that “this measure will apply to agrochemicals, classified in batches for fertilizers and pesticides, which aims to make the Colombian countryside more competitive.”

These inputs have a great impact on production mainly because they are mostly imported, so fluctuations in the exchange rate (TRM) and its average above $ 3,000 per dollar in recent years, increase their weight in costs of agricultural activity, which in itself is one of the highest.

But providing flexibility to the structure of production costs helps to generate a highly competitive exportable supply and would ensure accessibility to a lower value for producers. In addition, since one of the objectives of this government was to increase the number of hectares planted, the demand for these raw materials also increases.

With this it would be the third time that the tariff for the importation of basic components that allow the production of fertilizers and pesticides, as well as finished mixtures, is reduced. The first time was in September 2013 (Decree 1989) and the second in November 2015 (Decree 2180), both for a term of two years.

Agropages, 05/10/2018

Fonte Imagem: Reprodução