Colombia
2.3.3 Colombia Ipiales Border Crossing
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Overview

The border between Colombia and Ecuador is approximately 600 km long with three exchange areas with vastly different geographic, socioeconomic and cultural characteristics:

  • The Pacific coastal area connects the port of Tumaco in the Department of Nariño, Colombia with the Esmeraldas province in Ecuador mainly by sea due to the lack of roads.
  • The Amazon area where the San Miguel Bridge and other river crossings connect the Department of Putumayo in Colombia with the Sucumbíos province in Ecuador.
  • And the Andean region between the Department of Nariño in Colombia and the Carchi province in Ecuador is the most important area in terms of migratory flows and international trade, taking place through the Rumichaca International Bridge at the Tulcán - Ipiales Border Crossing.

The Rumichaca International Bridge is the main border crossing between Ecuador and Colombia over the Carchi River. Due to problems at the main border crossing (Cúcuta), Ipiales has become Colombia's main border city. In addition, there are more than 108 irregular crossings, such as Urbina, Calle larga, Capulí, Pulcaz, El Frailejón, Cerro de Troya, El Carmelo, La Verbena and Altamira, among others. These crossings are made on foot using low-capacity makeshift bridges.


Border Crossing Location and Contact Information

Name of the border crossing

Rumichaca International Bridge

Department

Nariño, Ipiales

Nearest city or town to the crossing and distance

Tulcán, Ecuador

Ipiales, Nariño, Colombia

Distance in km: 5 km approx. to both cities

Latitude

0.81488

Longitude

-77.356

Administrative Authority

Mayor of Pasto

National Border Service Center (CENAF) This organization brings Migration Colombia, DIAN and ICA together.

Contact Person

Geovanny Ascuntar, Immigration Check Post Coordinator, Migración Colombia.

Mobile phone: 3176689132

Email: geovanny.ascuntar@migracioncolombia.com.gov.co

 

Travel Time

Nearest International Airport

San Luis Airport, Ipiales

Distance in km: 7 km

Travel time by truck: 15 min

Travel time by car: 10 min

Nearest Port

Tumaco, Nariño

Distance in km: 229 km

Travel time by truck: 6 hrs

Travel time by car: 4 hrs

Nearest town with markets, wholesale suppliers and/or relevant manufacturing and productive operations

 

Ipiales, Nariño

Distance in km: 3 km

Travel time by truck: 15 min

Travel time by car: 5 min


Pasto, Nariño

Distance in km: 84 km

Travel time by truck: 2 hrs

Travel time by car: 1 hr 30 min

Additional information

 

There are more than 5 gas stations on the Ipiales-Pasto route.

The weather is cold with constant rainfall.

Hours of Operation

Monday

24 hrs

Tuesday

24 hrs

Wednesday

24 hrs

Thursday

24 hrs

Friday

24 hrs

Saturday

24 hrs

Sunday

24 hrs

National Holidays

Closed

Weather-related contingencies

October and November are the months with heavy rainfalls.

Daily Capacity

An average of 236 vehicles pass through the Rumichaca binational bridge every day, making it the most used formal border crossing point in the area, accounting for 65% of all travelers. However, through the irregular crossings mentioned above, the migratory flow can reach 1,000 to 1,500 people per day under normal conditions.

International road cargo transportation in the region is of special relevance since about 65% of exports from Colombia to Ecuador and 90% of exports from Ecuador to Colombia are transported by this route.

Trade increase between the two countries, mainly due to the economic partnership agreements entered into under the CAN (Andean Community), which, among other benefits, set a zero tariff for selected products and the possibility of unrestricted international cargo transportation, has limited the efficiency of transportation on the Bogotá - Quito corridor through the Tulcán - Ipiales crossing point for two main reasons:

  • Current congestion at existing customs facilities due to increasing cargo traffic.
  • Mandatory cargo transshipment set up by transport operators of both countries, an informal practice from which only liquid and refrigerated cargoes are exempted.


Customs

According to Article 90 of Decree 1165 of 2019, all means of transport arriving in the national customs territory must pass through the posts enabled by the Directorate of National Taxes and Customs (DIAN).

Approximate times

Decree 1165 of 2019 establishes that the types of controls for customs procedures are as follows:

  • Physical inspection: This inspection lasts 1 working day, i.e. if cargo arrival is on Monday, the vehicle will depart to its destination on Tuesday.
  • Documentary inspection: This inspection lasts between 1 and 3 days maximum.
  • Automatic inspection: On the same day.

Supporting documents

All documents are specified in Article 349 of Decree 1165 of 2019.

  • Shipment authorization form
  • Transport form
  • Invoice
  • Packing list (if applicable)
  • Transport documents
  • Approval (if applicable)
  • Customs mandate

These documents must be kept for 5 years at the customs agency processing the transport operation.

In cases when the transportation does not involve any cargo, public or private service companies transporting passengers only or when it is a technical stop or landfall, the transporter shall give notice of its arrival to the corresponding customs office, at least 1 hour in advance.

Upon arrival at the border crossing point, travel documents are received and registered right there to present goods to the customs authority. Presented goods are understood as those of foreign origin listed in the Bill of Lading, which is reported via the DIAN web platform and must include at least the following information:

  1. Identity of the means of transport
  2. Travel information
    1. Origin of goods
    2. Place of destination
    3. Total weight and number of cargo units to be transported
    4. Transport document number
    5. Number and weight of packages
    6. Consolidated cargo indicator

Transport document information submitted via the DIAN web platform. The following information must be included at least for transport and consolidation documents:

  1. Consignee taxpayer ID (other than that of the temporary or customs warehouse)
  2. Tariff subheading
  3. Type of cargo
  4. Number and date of the transport document or consolidation document
  5. Number, weight and volume of packages, as applicable
  6. Cargo unit identity, if applicable
  7. Description of goods
  8. Other transport contract specifications as required by the National Tax and Customs Directorate

The transporter must provide travel document information via the DIAN web platform before or upon the arrival of the means of transport.

Upon arrival of the means of transport to the national customs territory, the transporter or its authorized representative shall inform such information via the DIAN web platform. After receiving the arrival notice, the DIAN shall authorize the entry of the goods into the national territory. For customs purposes, the goods arrival date shall be the date of the acknowledgment of arrival notice receipt via the Electronic Data Processing platform.

For land transportation, there is no need to present the notice of completion of unloading. For consolidated cargo, the transporter is required to notify the international freight forwarder or multimodal transport operator immediately upon unloading to initiate their corresponding operations under their responsibility.

Finally, during the inspection, compliance between the cargo and the information provided in the bill of lading, as well as the documents supporting the business operation shall be verified, as well as compliance with the requirements set forth in special regulations, without prejudice to the power to conduct any good inspections, whenever DIAN deems it necessary.

At that moment, the import declaration (DUA in Spanish) is submitted via the DIAN web platform and accepted; then customs duties are calculated and paid at a bank or electronic transfer. After confirming declaration payment in the system, the release of goods is requested using the same platform. This release can be by physical or automatic inspection. In the first case, the DIAN inspector must verify that physical goods match the information in documents to finally issue the release and free disposition of goods. In the second case, the release and free disposition of goods are issued immediately.

Contact Person

DIAN: 24x7Customs checkpoint - Rumichaca International Bridge

Phone number: (7734458) 3208306547

Additional information

A new direct Pasto-Rumichaca route is currently under construction to optimize connectivity and trade with Ecuador.

Contact Person

Migración Colombia:

Carlos Humberto García López

+57 2 316 740 2743

carlos.garcia@migracioncolombia.gov.co


ICA:

Aldemar Moncayo Castro

+57 2 7732055 - 7733945

Fax: + 57 2 7732055

paso.rumichaca@ica.gov.co

aldemar.moncayo@ica.gov.co

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