Colombia Commercial Kitchen Equipment Import Guide 2026: Customs Duties, 19% IVA, RETIE and RETIQ Certification, 110V/60Hz Power and Hotel Project Costs

If you have already imported commercial kitchen equipment into Mexico or Brazil and you are now looking at a project in Bogotá, Cartagena or Medellín, the temptation is to reuse the landed-cost model. Do not. Colombia shares the 60 Hz mains frequency with Mexico and almost nothing else. There is no free-trade agreement between Colombia and China, so the certificates of origin that unlock duty-free entry across much of Asia and parts of Latin America do nothing here. The single-phase supply is 110–120 V, not 220 V. And there is a conformity certificate that can stop a container at the port even when the duty and tax have been paid correctly.

This guide covers what actually governs a Chinese-origin kitchen equipment shipment into Colombia in 2026: the arancel, the 19% IVA and how it is calculated, RETIE and RETIQ, the VUCE and DIAN process, the ports and transit times, and indicative project budgets.

Duty: how the arancel works, and why no FTA changes the arithmetic

Colombia classifies imports under the NANDINA nomenclature (the Andean Community’s 10-digit extension of the HS). Tariff rates run from 0% to 35%, broadly structured so that capital goods and industrial inputs sit in the 0–5% band, intermediate goods between 5% and 15%, and finished consumer goods between 15% and 35%.

Most commercial catering equipment classifies as machinery rather than consumer goods — cooking ranges and ovens, refrigeration, dishwashing, food preparation machinery and stainless steel furniture fall across headings such as 7321, 8418, 8419, 8422 and 8438. In practice that usually places them in the lower bands, but the rate is set by the specific 10-digit NANDINA subheading, not by the category, and it is worth having your customs agent confirm each line against DIAN’s Muisca tariff database before you build a budget. Two similar-looking cabinets can sit in different subheadings.

The point most first-time buyers miss: Colombia is a Pacific Alliance member and has agreements with the United States, the European Union, Mercosur and others — but not with China. A Form E or any Asian-FTA origin certificate is irrelevant to a Colombian entry. Chinese-origin goods pay the MFN rate. If your supplier offers to “help with the FTA certificate” for a Colombian shipment, they have not done this route before.

The 19% IVA — and why it is a cash-flow item, not a cost

IVA is charged at the standard 19% rate on imports, and the base is CIF value plus the arancel — you pay tax on the duty. That compounding is what makes Colombian landed cost look worse than a naive calculation suggests.

The nuance that matters for a hotel or restaurant group: for a business registered as an IVA responsible party, import IVA is generally creditable against output VAT, so it functions as working capital tied up between payment and offset rather than a permanent cost. The arancel is not creditable — it is gone. When you are comparing a Chinese factory-direct purchase against a local distributor, compare the duty y el freight honestly and treat the IVA as a financing question, because you will pay IVA on the local purchase too.

Worked example — indicative only

Use your own subheading rates and a live freight quotation before committing this to a budget. The 5% arancel above is illustrative, not a lookup.

RETIE: the certificate that stops the container

RETIE — the Reglamento Técnico de Instalaciones Eléctricas — is Colombia’s mandatory technical regulation covering electrical safety. Products within its scope require a valid certificado de conformidad issued by a certification body accredited by ONAC, Colombia’s national accreditation body. A test report from an overseas laboratory, a CE declaration or a UL listing is not a substitute; the certificate has to come through an accredited route that Colombia recognises.

Two practical consequences for a kitchen equipment order:

• Scope has to be established line by line, early. Not every item in a kitchen schedule is a RETIE product, but the electrical ones frequently are, and the assessment is done per product family, not per shipment. Establishing scope after the goods are built is how projects end up paying for expedited certification or, worse, discover it at the port.
• The regulatory text moves. The RETIE framework has been updated in recent years and further resolutions have followed. Confirm the currently applicable resolution and the accepted conformity assessment route with your customs agent or a Colombian certification body at enquiry stage rather than relying on a supplier blog — including ours.

RETIQ: energy labelling, and the door test

RETIQ is the separate energy-labelling regulation administered by the Ministry of Mines and Energy. For our category the distinction that matters is simple and easy to get wrong: RETIQ applies to closed commercial refrigeration and freezer equipment — equipment with doors. Open-fronted commercial refrigeration without doors falls outside it.

So an upright reach-in refrigerator, a bottle cooler and a glass-door merchandiser are in a different regulatory position from an open multideck display case, even when they sit side by side in the same specification. Split the refrigeration schedule on that basis before you ask a supplier what documentation they can provide, and make the labelling obligation explicit in the purchase order.

Power: 110/120 V, 60 Hz, and what it does to your schedule

Colombia runs at 60 Hz, and standard single-phase supply is 110–120 V. Three-phase supplies in commercial buildings are commonly 208 V (120/208 V wye), with higher voltages in industrial settings. Always take the actual figures from the project’s electrical drawings rather than from a country table — but plan for the fact that Colombia will not hand you the 220 V single phase and 380–415 V three phase that most of Asia, Africa and Europe assume.

What this changes on the equipment side:

• Element and motor ratings have to be specified for the actual voltage. A 220 V heating element on a 120 V supply delivers roughly a quarter of its rated power — the machine will appear to work and will never reach temperature on time.
• Refrigeration compressors must be 60 Hz variants, and for the Caribbean coast — Cartagena, Barranquilla, Santa Marta — specify the condensing unit for real coastal ambient rather than a standard 32 °C rating.
• Current draw roughly doubles at 120 V for the same power, which changes cable sizing, breaker selection and connector type. This is the item most often missed between the equipment schedule and the electrical design.
• Plugs, terminals and cable glands need to match local practice, and control panels need components rated and documented for the destination.

All of this is a build parameter, not an accessory. We set voltage, frequency, phase, element rating, compressor variant, contactor sizing and connector type on the production order before the line starts, and we would rather resolve it in the enquiry than in a hotel plant room in Bogotá. Our voltage and frequency guide sets out exactly what has to change internally.

The import process, step by step

1. RUT with DIAN. The importing entity registers or updates its Registro Único Tributario with the foreign-trade activity code.
2. VUCE authorisation. Colombia’s Ventanilla Única de Comercio Exterior centralises permits, licences, prior authorisations and import registrations in a single digital platform. Any registro de importación or product-specific authorisation is handled here.
3. Appoint a customs agency. Mandatory for imports above USD 1,000 FOB. The agency prepares and lodges the declaration on your behalf.
4. Assemble the document pack: commercial invoice, bill of lading, packing list, Declaración Andina del Valor, customs mandate, certificate of origin where a preference is claimed, and any conformity certificates such as RETIE.
5. Lodge the import declaration (Form 500) through DIAN’s MUISCA system.
6. Pay arancel and IVA through an authorised bank at the day’s exchange rate.
7. Selectivity channel: green releases automatically, yellow triggers documentary review, red means physical inspection. Build float into the programme for a red channel rather than assuming green.

The document pack is where most avoidable delay lives, and it is largely within the exporter’s control. We prepare the commercial set to match the declaration line by line — HS classification agreed with your agent before shipment, invoice descriptions that match the packing list and the bill of lading, nameplate data consistent with the conformity documents, and Spanish commercial detail where it is expected. This is a different exercise from the transport and crating documentation covered in our ocean freight and container loading guide; both have to be right, and they fail in different ways.

Ports, routing and transit

• Cartagena — the principal container gateway and the usual choice for Bogotá, the Caribbean coast and most hotel projects. Strong transhipment connectivity.
• Barranquilla and Santa Marta — useful for coastal projects and sometimes for oversized pieces.
• Buenaventura — the Pacific gateway, relevant for Cali and the southwest.

Indicative port-to-port transit from South China is typically in the range of 28–40 days to Cartagena and 30–45 days to Buenaventura, both usually with transhipment. Add customs clearance and inland haulage to Bogotá — a climb from sea level to 2,600 m that is a real line item, not a rounding error.

Indicative project budgets (FOB China, 2026)

Apply the landed-cost multiple from the worked example above to convert these to a project budget, and remember that equipment is typically only a third to a half of a total kitchen fit-out once M&E, ventilation and builder’s work are included.

Preguntas frecuentes

Does Colombia have a free trade agreement with China?

No. Colombia has agreements with the United States, the European Union, Mercosur, EFTA and its Pacific Alliance partners among others, but not with China. Chinese-origin commercial kitchen equipment enters at the MFN rate, and Asian FTA origin certificates such as Form E have no effect on a Colombian entry.

How is import IVA calculated in Colombia?

The standard rate is 19%, applied to the CIF value plus the arancel — so you pay IVA on the duty as well as on the goods and freight. For businesses registered as IVA responsible parties, import IVA is generally creditable against output VAT, which makes it a working-capital item rather than a permanent cost. The arancel itself is not recoverable.

Do I need RETIE certification for imported kitchen equipment?

Electrical products within RETIE’s scope require a certificate of conformity from a certification body accredited by ONAC. Whether a specific item is in scope has to be established line by line and early, because certification is arranged per product family and not per shipment. Confirm the currently applicable resolution and the accepted assessment route with your customs agent or a Colombian certification body before the order is built.

What voltage should commercial kitchen equipment be built to for Colombia?

Colombia runs at 60 Hz with 110–120 V single-phase supply, and three-phase in commercial buildings is commonly 208 V. Take the actual values from the project’s electrical drawings. Element ratings, compressor variants, contactor and cable sizing and connector types all have to be set for those values before production starts — the current draw at 120 V is roughly double that at 240 V for the same power.

How long does shipping from China to Colombia take?

Port-to-port transit is typically around 28–40 days to Cartagena and 30–45 days to Buenaventura, usually with transhipment. Add customs clearance — allow for the possibility of a yellow or red selectivity channel — plus inland haulage, which for Bogotá means a long climb from the coast.

Working on a Colombian project?

Send us the equipment schedule and the electrical drawings together. We will classify the lines for your agent, flag which items are likely to fall within RETIE and RETIQ scope, and build to the actual voltage and frequency rather than shipping a 220 V kitchen to a 120 V country. Our export team is ready to support your project — WhatsApp +86 158 1364 3427 or [email protected].

If you are still shortlisting factories, our overview of China-based commercial kitchen equipment manufacturers worth shortlisting is a useful starting point, and it is worth reading alongside our guides to equipment certifications y payment terms before you place a deposit.