Submissions

The submitter asserts that the Government of Colombia is failing to effectively enforce environmental laws regarding paragraph 1 of the Article 7 of Resolution 1367 de 2000 from the Ministry of Environment, which establishes that those interested in importing or exporting second-degree processed forest products such as parquet or wood flooring must attach a certification from the competent Regional Autonomous Corporation [Corporación Autónoma Regional] or the Environmental Public Establishment [Unidad Ambiental de los Grandes Centros Urbanos], stating compliance with the provisions of articles 64 a 68 of the Decree 1791 de 1996. According to the Submission, the consulted environmental authorities responded that they had not issued the environmental certification, except for one environmental authority that indicated having issued five (5) certifications starting from 2022 a 3 companies, which would not cover all the shipments exported.

The submitter raises questions about the legality of the sourcing of the raw wood used to manufacture approximately 3,226 containers of flooring exported from Colombia between January 2016 and May 2023 as a result of certain environmental authorities not having issued the export certificates required by paragraph 1 of Article 7 of Resolution 1367of 2000.