WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SCM/Q3/COL/33 
2 December 2004 
 
 (04-5268) 
Committee on Subsidies and 
Countervailing Measures Original:   Spanish 
 
  
SUBSIDIES 
 
Requests Pursuant to Article 27.4 of the Agreement on
 
Subsidies and Countervailing Measures  
 
Replies by COLOMBIA to Questions Posed by PERU1 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 29 November 2004, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of Colombia.  
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 Attached hereto are Colombia's replies to Peru's questions on the "Special Import-Export System for Capital Goods and Spare Parts" (SIEX programme).  
                                                     
 
1 G/SCM/Q3/COL/32. G/SCM/Q3/COL/33 
Page 2  
 
  The Permanent Mission of Colombia to the World Trade Organization presents its 
compliments to the Secretariat of the World Trade Organization (Committee on Subsidies and 
Countervailing Measures) and in response to the questions posed by the Permanent Mission of Peru, 
with regard to the information requested on the "Special Import-Export System of Capital Goods and 
Spare Parts" (SIEX programme), would like to state the following: 
 
 The questions were posed a week before th e meeting of the Committee and consequently 
could not be dealt with at that session. 
 
 Since 2002 Colombia has always fulfilled the commitments undertaken before the Committee 
on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures and, consequently, has not a pproved SIEX programmes 
which might be able to benefit from ta riff exemptions beyond 31 December 2005. 
 
 Several constitutional and legal provisions in fo rce in Colombia protect the confidentiality of 
business information.  Thus, Article 19 of the Ad ministrative Litigation Code, Article 15 of the 
Colombian Constitution and Articles 260, 261 and 265 of Decision 486 of the Commission of the Andean Community protect business, trade and industrial secrets and the confidentiality of specific 
information.  Consequently, it is not possible to supply information consisting of data broken down by 
company, name and amounts per programme granted to each company. 
 
 Annexed hereto is a table providing aggregate information, by year, with the number of programmes approved, the total amount granted under such programmes and the final date for 
benefiting from tariff exemptions.  It also indicates  the main sectors to which the companies that have 
benefited from the programmes belong.  The inform ation covers the period up to September 2004.  G/SCM/Q3/COL/33 
 Page 3 
 
 
 ANNEX 
 
 
Year of Approval Number of 
Programmes 
Approved Final Date for 
Receiving Benefits Value Approved 
US$ 
2002 62 27/05/2003 629,354,710 
2003 60 23/06/2004 373,150,519 
2004 8 31/12/2004 70,000,000 
 Note: 
 
 The special import-export system programmes approved in 2002, 2003 and 2004 have been 
mainly directed towards the agricultural sector for the production of coffee, sugar and bananas, as 
well as to assist aquaculture projects.  
 These programmes have also been aimed at companies in the mining sector specializing in 
coal mining and oil exploitation. 
 
 In manufacturing industry the programmes have  benefited enterprises in the mining sector, 
the clothing industry, ceramics, the publishing industry, the metallurgical industry, furniture making 
and plastics. 
 
 A small percentage of these programmes has been directed to the non-road transport sector as a means of assisting mining.  
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