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The criteria most used in the preparation of technical regulations (RTs) include the protection of human life and health, consumer protection and the protection of the environment, while the sectors in which most drafts were prepared included industrial products, especially those with an environmental impact

The sanitary and phytosanitary system, composed of the above-mentioned entities, operates on the principle of harmonizing policies in the various sectors, in particular, agriculture, public health, environment, trade, regional authorities and the private sector, with the surveillance in environmental matters being the responsibility of the autonomous regional corporations

The Colombian Agricultural Institute (ICA) is responsible for regulating and controlling the use of living organisms modified by genetic engineering in the agricultural sector, while resolution No. 946 of 2006 establishes the procedure used by the ICA for handling living modified organism (LMO) applications

To import wild flora, the application must be accompanied by a clearance document issued by the Ministry of the Environment, Housing and Regional Development, while national registration of a pesticide requires a risk and environmental management assessment and laboratory analysis certificates

The prior requirements, for example, of a sanitary or environmental nature, which must sometimes be met in order to export, can be processed on-line through the Single Window for Foreign Trade (VUCE), while Colombia regulates the ports through which certain products, such as primary forest and fishery products, are exported in order, inter alia, to prevent environmental degradation

It is prohibited to export individual specimens of live species of wild fauna, unless they are intended for scientific research or their exportation has been expressly authorized by the State

Colombia prohibits the pursuit of certain activities in free zones, including the exploration, exploitation or extraction of non-renewable natural resources specified in the Mining and Petroleum Code

Persons that invest, directly or through research centres or technological development centres recognized by COLCIENCIAS, in projects, related inter alia to the environment, biotechnology, mining and energy designated scientific, technological or innovative by the National Science and Technology Council may deduct from their taxable income 125 per cent of the value invested in the tax period in which the investment was made

There are special laws on government purchasing in such cases as contracts for the exploration and exploitation of natural resources

Living organisms, biological processes or biological material as found in nature, inventions whose exploitation must be prevented to protect, inter alia, health or life of persons or animals or to preserve plants or the environment, plants, animals are not patentable, among other discoveries