Colombia is first country in the Americas to reach the highest level of progress in implementing the EITI Standard

EITI-Colombia has published verified revenue information, shone a light on revenue distribution to regions and started to tackle challenges in environmental regulations.

Colombia was assessed today as the first country in the Americas to meet all the requirements of the EITI Standard. The EITI Board reached that decision in its meeting in Berlin today. The Board found that Colombia had demonstrated satisfactory progress in all requirements of the EITI Standard.

Fredrik Reinfeldt, Chair of the EITI, said:

“Colombia has made rapid strides in making its extractive sector more transparent. I congratulate all stakeholders on making the EITI a tool to build trust in a post-conflict Colombia.  We particularly applaud the launch of the user-friendly online platform to collect and share information on the extractives sector.”

Carlos Cante, Vice-Minister of Mines, EITI Champion and member of the Board, commented:

“We are leading a worldwide recognized commitment to transparency, good governance and good practices. This creates a good investment climate for foreign investment in a key sector for the national economy. This government has secured funding together with international partners for USD 2.5 million for the next four years for the EITI”

Colombia began implementing the EITI in October 2014 shortly after reaching the milestone of producing 1 million barrels of oil a day. This raised the question of whether the new revenue might help end the decades of violent conflict.

EITI-Colombia has published three EITI Reports covering revenues from 2013 to 2016. These provide extensive information on the hydrocarbon and mining sector including mining licensing systems, revenue distribution, subnational revenue, and environmental regulations. Ecopetrol has participated in the EITI process and has committed to deepening its transparency practices.

It has identified a number of areas to ensure growth in the sector translates to sustainable development and peacebuilding.

Moving ahead

Colombia is committed to put in place a national framework for disclosing beneficial ownership information. While proposed legislation is stalled, EITI-Colombia has been working to make sure that this information for the extractive sector is available by 2020.

Stakeholders agree that the EITI should play a coordinating role in reaching out to extractive communities. With the imminent elections, new authorities will find an established EITI process with plenty of opportunities to furthering good governance of its minerals wealth.

Scorecard

Notes

• Validation is the EITI’s independent evaluation mechanism. It assesses countries against progress made in meeting the 2016 Standard.
• See here for a full explanation of the various levels of progress under the EITI Standard.
• See the interactive scorecard for Colombia here.
• The decision in full: 2018-38/BM-40/BP-40-6-A
• The documentation of Colombia's Validation can be found here.
• For further information about the EITI in Colombia, please visit the country page on the EITI website.