Can I send medicine to Colombia?
Yes, with conditions.
Needs a Spanish prescription for no more than a standard 30-day treatment, in sealed, labeled packaging. INVIMA can seize products that don't comply.
For every Onvoyo box: Onvoyo can't carry prescription drugs. Over-the-counter medicine and vitamins follow the destination's own rules.
More rules for Colombia
Allowed with conditions
- Goods with import restrictions: medicines, food, medical equipment, plants, and seeds
- Allowed by courier only in non-commercial shipments, meaning 6 units or fewer of the same kind, and only if they meet the rules of the agency in charge (INVIMA or ICA). Commercial quantities are moved to a formal import.
- Medicines, dietary supplements, and medical devices for personal use
- Need a written prescription in Spanish, using generic names, with the prescriber's registration number and the total units for a standard 30-day treatment. Products must be sealed and labeled with name, maker, lot, and expiry date. Vaccines and other biologicals are excluded. INVIMA seizes products that are opened, repackaged, or not kept at the right temperature.
Quantity limits
- Medicines and supplements
- Prescription quantities for a standard 30-day treatment.
Before you ship to Colombia
- Tax-free limit
- Courier shipments worth USD 200 FOB (about COP 660,000) or less, not counting delivery costs, pay no duty from any country. They also pay no IVA if they are not commercial and come from a country whose trade agreement with Colombia expressly bars the tax. The US agreement does: it rules out duties and taxes on express shipments of USD 200 or less, restricted goods excepted. DIAN doesn't name other qualifying agreements, so from other countries, plan on 19% IVA from the first dollar.
- Receiver ID
- Cédula de ciudadanía (or cédula de extranjería for foreign residents; NIT for companies) needed. The receiver's ID number is declared on the courier waybill, and the receiver signs that waybill at delivery. Under Colombian rules the signed waybill is the simplified import declaration, so the receiver should keep it for 5 years. If the receiver has no Colombian ID yet, ask the courier which number to use before you ship.
- Transit
- 3-6 business days from North America; 4-7 from Europe; 5-8 from Asia
Questions
Can I send medicine to Colombia?
Yes, with conditions. Needs a Spanish prescription for no more than a standard 30-day treatment, in sealed, labeled packaging. INVIMA can seize products that don't comply.
Ask about a specific item
Official sources
- 1.
Dirección de Impuestos y Aduanas Nacionales (DIAN)
Guía para que sus envíos lleguen a Colombia sin problemas (opens in a new tab) - 2.
Dirección de Impuestos y Aduanas Nacionales (DIAN)
Modalidad de tráfico postal y envíos urgentes (opens in a new tab) - 3.
Instituto Nacional de Vigilancia de Medicamentos y Alimentos (INVIMA)
IVC-INS-IN69 Instructivo para la importación o introducción de objetos o productos al territorio nacional bajo la modalidad de importación de tráfico postal y envíos urgentes (opens in a new tab) - 4.
Dirección de Impuestos y Aduanas Nacionales (DIAN)
Compilación Jurídica de la DIAN - Decreto 1165 de 2019 (opens in a new tab) - 5.
Office of the United States Trade Representative
United States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement, Chapter Five: Customs Administration and Trade Facilitation (opens in a new tab) - 6.
Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia (datos.gov.co)
Tasa de Cambio Representativa del Mercado- TRM (opens in a new tab)
General guidance, not legal advice. Customs in Colombia makes the final decision on every box.