Colombia Apparel Labelling: The Andean Technical Regulation as a Sworn Declaration

Apparel sold to a consumer in Colombia is governed by Resolución N° 2109/2019, the Reglamento Técnico Andino para el Etiquetado de Confecciones, as modified by Resolución N° 2173/2020. It became compulsory in Colombia on 15 November 2021 and is Colombia's own applicable garment-labelling rule, in force through the Ministerio de Comercio, Industria y Turismo and enforced in the market by the Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio, SIC. ^[1]

The Colombian text of the rule contains a detail worth stating up front, because it changes how a production file should treat compliance risk: Resolución 2109 expressly states that no conformity-assessment procedure applies to the garment label. Label information is treated as the manufacturer's, importer's or seller's sworn declaration, checked by SIC in the market, not certified by a third party before goods arrive. For the shared groundwork on fibre and care labelling generally, see our garment labelling guide.

What must appear on an apparel label sold in Colombia?

Five fields, in Spanish: material composition, care and conservation instructions, the manufacturer's or importer's name or business name including its Colombian tax identification or other required registration, size or dimensions, and country of origin or manufacture. Composition, care and origin must appear on a permanent label; manufacturer or importer identification and size may be on either a permanent or a removable label. ^[1]

Label field	Colombian requirement	Production record to use
Material composition	Permanent label, Spanish, required	Final fabric and component specification
Care and conservation instructions	Permanent label, required, per ISO 3758:2012	Confirmed care treatment
Manufacturer/importer name and tax identification	Permanent or removable label	Legal entity and Colombian tax ID record
Size or dimensions	Permanent or removable label; alphabetic, numeric, or both	Approved size chart, SI units for dimensions
Country of origin or manufacture	Permanent label, required	Confirmed origin record

A trim, a coated fabric, or an added lining changes which composition rows apply, since coatings and linings each have their own treatment under the regulation. Confirm construction before the label copy is frozen.

How does Colombia's fibre-composition and tolerance rule work?

Materials present at 5% or more of the garment must be declared individually, in descending order. Materials below 5%, or collectively below 15%, may be grouped as "otros" or an equivalent term, except that functional fibres must be named even below the 5% threshold, reflecting their role, not their share of the total mass. A "100%," "puro" or "todo" claim tolerates unavoidable foreign fibres up to 2%, or 5% for carded products, and a tolerance of plus or minus 3% applies to each material separately in a mixture. ^[1]

Composition scenario	Colombian treatment
Material at 5% or more	Declared individually, descending order
Material below 5%, or collectively below 15%	May be grouped as "otros"
Functional fibres	Named even below 5%
"100%," "puro," "todo"	Tolerates impurities up to 2% (5% carded)
Mixture tolerance	Plus or minus 3% per material
Coating	Declared as "recubierto de/con"
Lining	May be omitted only within the regulation's 5% mass or 15% surface thresholds

Origin wording may use "Hecho en," "Fabricado en," "Elaborado en" or an equivalent phrase, and size may be expressed alphabetically, numerically, or both, with dimensions given in SI units.

Is there a mandatory care-symbol standard in Colombia?

Yes. Article 8 of Resolución 2109 requires care information in text, standardised symbols, or both, and where symbols are used they must conform to ISO 3758:2012. This gives a Colombia-bound programme a specific, confirmed symbol standard to build to. ^[1]

Does Colombia require a pre-market certificate for apparel?

No. Resolución 2109 expressly states that no conformity-assessment procedure applies to the garment label. Label information operates as the manufacturer's, importer's or seller's sworn declaration, not as a document certified by a third party before the goods reach the market. SIC's enforcement is correspondingly a market inspection against the declared label, not a pre-import certification checkpoint, which places the compliance weight on the accuracy of what is stated, not on clearing an approval step before shipment.

Is the older Resolución 1950 registration requirement still in force?

No. Resolución N° 941/2021 repealed Resolución N° 1950/2009 and its amending resolutions, effective when Resolución Andina N° 2109/2019 entered into force on 15 November 2021. The older SIC and DIAN importer-code and registration provision therefore does not apply. A Colombia-bound label must instead carry the manufacturer’s or importer’s name or business name together with the Colombian tax identification or other registration required under Article 9 of Resolución 2109. ^[2]

What is the Colombian manufacturer or importer identification requirement?

The label must carry the manufacturer's or importer's name or business name, together with its Colombian tax identification or other registration required in Colombia. This field is the one most tied to how the shipment is commercially structured: the responsible party's identity and its Colombian tax registration have to match the entity actually placing the garment on the Colombian market, confirmed at order and not assumed from a general company registration. ^[1]

SIC's own inspection-form history shows the practical transition to Resolución 2109 as the applicable rule, which is the current basis a Colombia-bound label should be checked against. ^[3]

Copy on the label	Colombian treatment	Artwork control
Manufacturer/importer name	Business name or trademark	Confirm the entity placing the garment on the Colombian market
Tax identification	Colombian tax ID or other required registration	Verified current registration
Language	Spanish throughout	Approved Spanish-language artwork

What applies to children's apparel in Colombia?

We prepare children's label artwork using the same five-field permanent and removable label structure as adult apparel. We build children's styles to EN 14682 cord and drawstring rules where your programme calls for it, and to your own construction brief where it does not. We record the approved cord-and-drawstring construction requirements in the technical pack and inspect finished garments against them before handover. ^[1]

What happens if a Colombia-bound label is inaccurate or incomplete?

SIC conducts market inspection against Resolución 2109 and can open an administrative investigation under Ley N° 1480/2011, Colombia's consumer-protection statute, where a label is found non-compliant. Sanctions can include fines, compliance orders, temporary closure and, in serious repeat cases, definitive closure or removal of an e-commerce channel. Since the label is a sworn declaration and not a certified document, the accuracy of what is stated carries the compliance weight, and a mismatch between the label and the finished garment is treated as its own infringement, not a paperwork gap. ^[4]

Where does a generic export label fall short for a Colombia-bound shipment?

A label accurate on composition and care under another market's rules can still miss what Colombia's rule checks specifically: the Colombian tax-identification field and the Article 8 care-symbol standard.

Generic label feature	Why it may not satisfy Colombia's requirement	Colombia-specific action
Manufacturer named, no Colombian tax ID	Resolución 2109 requires the responsible party's Colombian tax identification	Confirm and add the correct Colombian registration
Care symbols from another standard	Article 8 requires ISO 3758:2012 conformity where symbols are used	Confirm symbols against ISO 3758:2012
Fibre content below 5% left off entirely	Functional fibres are named even below 5%	Confirm whether any sub-5% fibre is functional
Pre-market certificate assumed required	No conformity-assessment procedure applies to the garment label	Treat the label as a sworn declaration, not a certified document

How should a Colombia-bound label be approved before bulk?

Confirm the responsible manufacturer or importer's Colombian tax identification before development samples are finalised, since a change to how the shipment is commercially structured changes which entity's registration belongs on the label. Confirm fibre composition against the 5% and 15% grouping thresholds, and care symbols against ISO 3758:2012, at the same stage.

Approval stage	What to lock	Check on the physical garment
Responsible-party confirmation	Correct entity, current Colombian tax ID	Documented before bulk
Composition review	Fibre percentages against the 5%/15% thresholds and tolerances	Matches the approved bill of materials
Care symbols	ISO 3758:2012 conformity	Confirmed against the current standard
Bulk inspection	Sealed Spanish-language artwork	Correct Colombia variant on the correct style and colourway

The tech pack should name the confirmed responsible entity and its tax identification, alongside the Colombia label version.

Short FAQ

Is a pre-market certificate required for apparel sold in Colombia?

No. Resolución 2109 expressly states no conformity-assessment procedure applies to the garment label, which is treated as a sworn declaration.

Does Colombia require ISO 3758:2012 for care symbols?

Yes, where symbols are used. Article 8 of Resolución 2109 requires standardised symbols to conform to ISO 3758:2012.

Does a Colombia-bound label require the responsible party's tax identification?

Yes. Resolución 2109 requires the manufacturer's or importer's Colombian tax identification or other required registration on the label.

Is there a mandatory cords-and-drawstrings standard for children's clothing in Colombia?

We build children's styles to EN 14682 cord and drawstring rules where your programme calls for it, and to your own construction brief where it does not. We confirm the selected construction requirements in the technical pack before production.

Does Colombia require a country-of-origin mark?

Yes. Country of origin or manufacture is one of the five mandatory permanent-label fields under Resolución 2109, expressed as "Hecho en," "Fabricado en," "Elaborado en" or an equivalent phrase.

The Colombia label judgement

A Colombia-bound apparel label carries Resolución 2109's five mandatory fields: material composition, care and conservation instructions, manufacturer or importer identity with Colombian tax registration, size, and country of origin. No pre-market certificate applies, so the label's accuracy as a sworn declaration is what SIC checks in the market. Confirm the responsible entity's tax identification early, since a late change to the shipment's commercial structure changes that field directly.

Placing a Colombia-bound programme

A tech pack, destination confirmation, order quantity and label artwork are what we need to quote a Colombia-bound programme with label preparation and approval, including the tax-identification field, built into the cost. For the wider regional picture, our Latin America import guide covers the region a Colombia order typically sits alongside, and our private label programme is where the responsible-party identity and Spanish-language artwork for a Colombia-bound order get confirmed before development samples are cut.