MinComercio launched the Seal and Ranking of Payment in Fair Terms: this is how your company can apply and gain the recognition of suppliers and customers

If there is one thing that makes it difficult for suppliers, it is the practice of many companies to pay them in 90 days and more. With so many delays in obtaining payment for the goods or services they offer, companies have serious difficulties in achieving adequate operation and growth, due to low cash flow. Some of these difficulties can be relieved with invoice template MS Word, but many other issues require much more.

To address this situation, the Congress of the Republic enacted Law 2024 of 2020, which incorporated “the obligation of ‘Payment in Fair Terms’ as a measure that develops the principle of contractual good faith and seeks to promote adequate payment conditions between companies, particularly when the one providing the goods or services is a micro, small or medium-sized company”.

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And today, in order to encourage companies to pay their suppliers within a maximum period of 45 days -one and a half months-, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism launched the Ranking of Payment in Fair Terms, as well as the Seal.

The strategy was launched by MinComercio on the World Day of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), which according to the head of the portfolio, Germán Umaña, make up 99.5% of all companies in the country.

The Seal of Payment in Fair Terms certifies that the company complies with its suppliers, paying them in a fair period of 45 days or less, which allows them to operate properly and meet their own obligations.

As for the Ranking, it highlights companies that meet their commitments in the shortest possible time. Those that have paid their suppliers throughout 2022 within 45 days or less are eligible to apply.

Advantages of the Seal and Ranking of Payment in Fair Terms

Both the Seal and the Ranking have two positive consequences. On the one hand, they transmit confidence to suppliers, in a time of inflation and logistical difficulties, when accessing inputs and other goods and services quickly, consistently, and at good prices can be a challenge.

On the other hand, having the Seal of Payment in Fair Terms or being included in the Ranking of Payment in Fair Terms provides the goods or services offered by the company with a differential value, with the capacity to influence the purchasing decisions of conscious consumers, who are concerned about the welfare of communities and favor companies with a positive social impact in their purchases.

How to apply for a permit to use the Payment on Fair Terms Seal?

If the interested company paid its obligations in 45 days or less throughout 2022, it can apply for authorization to use the Payment on Fair Terms Seal. Unlike the Ranking, applications are received on a permanent basis.

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To do so, you must register at the link www.plazosjustos.gov.co and create a new application. Once there, you must fill out the single data capture form and accept the terms and conditions.

Subsequently, you must fill out and attach the required supporting documents, with which you must prove that you met your obligations in 45 days or less in the year 2022.

Once the information from the supporting documents and the Single Data Entry Form has been received, the Administrator will have 10 working days to verify that the application complies with the information required for the application to use the Seal.

The applicant must check his/her e-mail, and if necessary, correct and/or make a substantive verification, for which the applicant will also have ten (10) working days to do so.

“Once the application has been corrected (if applicable) or once the term of ten (10) business days has expired without the need to correct any missing or formal errors, the Administrator will have a term of thirty (30) business days to issue the authorization of use to the applicant or to deny it.

If the company receives the Seal of Payment in Fair Terms, it may use it as a recognition of the National Government for two years.

How to apply for the Payment in Fair Terms Ranking?

The application to the Ranking is made through the same link – www.plazosjustos.gov.co- and the applicant must follow the same steps described for the application of the Payment in Fair Terms Seal.

This year, the call for the Ranking of Fair Payment will be open from June 21 to July 23.

The company must indicate the average number of days in which it made payments on invoices or equivalent documents that were received between January 1 and December 31, 2022.

The consolidation of the Ranking will begin by the Administrator “once the application has been corrected (as the case may be) or once the term of ten (10) business days has expired without it being necessary to correct any deficiencies or formal errors”. No later than June 30 of each year, the Administrator will publish the Ranking of Payment in Fair Terms with those applicants that meet the requirements.

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