UAE and Singapore: which Colombian products would enter tariff-free and why there is still no date

On September 28, Colombia’s Foreign Ministry sent the UAE and Singapore trade agreements to Congress, along with an update to the Pacific Alliance rules. All three were signed years ago and never put into force. None of them applies today. Before they do, each must go through Congress and the Constitutional Court, and that last filter has already struck down the Singapore agreement once.

The UAE agreement: the one with the most products defined

The CEPA, signed in April 2024, is Colombia’s first agreement with an Arab country. Once in force, 85% of Colombian products will enter the UAE tariff-free. The Trade Ministry cited sweet biscuits, waffles, medicines, ceramics and household appliances as examples. Another 13% will see tariffs cut gradually over five years.

Each percentage is the share of products that gets that treatment:

Who sells to whom	Who pays the tariff	Zero tariff from day one	Tariff that falls in stages
Colombian companies selling in the UAE	The buyer in the UAE	85% of products	13% of products, over five years
UAE companies selling in Colombia	The importer in Colombia	63% of products	37% of products, over up to 12 years

Oils and sugar stay protected under the price band system.

Trade today is small. In 2023 Colombia sold the UAE US$34.3 million in non-mining goods, and its main exports there are gold, flowers, emeralds, vegetables and coffee. What comes into Colombia is mostly cars, plastics and glass.

• Exporters of biscuits, waffles, medicines or ceramics: they win. Their product is on the zero-tariff list and there is almost no Colombian competition in that market.
• Importers of glass, plastics or vehicles from the UAE: they win, but the pace depends on the tariff line. If it falls in the 63%, the cut is immediate. If it falls in the 37%, it can take up to 12 years.
• Colombian glass and plastics producers: they lose. They compete with those imports and, on lines with an immediate cut, zero-tariff competition starts the day the agreement takes effect.
• Importers of oils and sugar: almost nothing changes, because of the price band.

Singapore: an FTA that Chile and Peru already use

The FTA between Singapore and the Pacific Alliance (Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru) was signed in January 2022 in Bahía Málaga. It removes most tariffs and covers investment, e-commerce and maritime transport. The sources consulted do not include a product list. Colombia’s Foreign Ministry highlights the potential for agricultural and agro-industrial products.

Colombia’s Congress approved it in January 2023, and the Constitutional Court struck that law down in October of the same year. According to Cambio Colombia, Chile and Peru have had it in force since May 2025. Colombia and Mexico remain outside.

• Importers of goods made in Singapore: they win once the treaty takes effect, because it removes most tariffs.
• Agro-industrial exporters: there is an opportunity, but still no product list and no date.

The third bill: rules of origin

The Third Amending Protocol updates the base text of the Pacific Alliance. It defines the Associate State status, which Singapore would hold, and introduces origin cumulation. In general terms, it lets inputs from a partner country count toward meeting a product’s rule of origin.

This is the least discussed of the three bills and the one that matters most to manufacturers.

When the UAE and Singapore trade agreements would apply

There is no date. The bills still need debate in the Second Committees of the Senate and the House, and review by the Constitutional Court. Only when the implementation text is published will it be clear which phase-out group each product falls into.

Fenix’s read

A zero tariff removes one cost and leaves distance and transit time untouched. The first beneficiaries toward the UAE would be high value-per-kilo products or goods that already travel by air, such as flowers and fresh fruit. With low initial volumes, consolidated cargo fits better than a full container. The preference is claimed with proof of origin, so the paperwork gets settled before shipment.

Toward Asia-Pacific, the Pacific route gains weight, and from Buenaventura Fenix follows that route closely, along with every stage of the process.