Labor measures during the Economic, Social and Ecological Emergency.
The Ministry of Labor intends to promote and retain jobs by providing, among others, the following alternatives to employees and employers: withdrawal of unemployment saving aid, benefits related to the Unemployed Protection Mechanism (Mecanismo de Protección al Cesante) and allowing employers the possibility to grant employees accumulated, advance or collective vacation on short notice.

INVIMA (Instituto Nacional de Vigilancia de Medicamentos y Alimentos) eases the requirements to import and/or distribute vital products to attend the Covid -19 emergency.
INVIMA’s specialized board for Medical Devices and other technologies issued a list of vital products to attend the emergency arising from Covid-19, which means that the import and / or local distribution of said products will be allowed without having a marketing authorization.

Prohibition to force employees to accept unpaid leaves.
The Ministry of Labor recalled that wages and rest days are considered as un-waivable fundamental rights and employers must act under the protective and solidarity principle.

Government amends Justice and ADR regulations.
Government allowed new methods of administrative notifications, the suspension of certain judicial terms and the extension of others and, the continuation of arbitral tribunals under certain circumstances.

The Ministry of Labor cannot determine whether there is force majeure.
Force majeure should be analyzed on a case by case basis by the competent judge. The Ministry is impeded to perform particular assessment of the conditions of the company, the development of its corporate purpose and the impact of Covid-19.

The Institute of Urban Development (Instituto de Desarrollo Urbano – IDU) suspended inter-administrative, consultancy, civil work, infrastructure, and supervision agreements.
Given the health crisis generated by Covid-19, the IDU ordered the suspension of: i) road infrastructure civil work agreements in Bogotá D.C, and ii) inter-administrative agreements and contracts, both with certain exceptions.

Superintendence of Companies (Superintendencia de Sociedades) restarts terms and deadlines.
The Superintendence of Companies restarts the terms and deadlines of jurisdictional and administrative actions at national and regional levels. The Mercantile and Insolvency delegations are now conducting online proceedings, while the reorganization agreements terms and deadlines will continue to be suspended.

Grace periods in capital and interest on loans.
The Ministry of Housing (Ministerio de Vivienda, Ciudad y Territorio) grants grace periods in capital and interest on loans for the acquisition of housing or housing leasing agreements.

ANM (Agencia Nacional de Minería) and ANH (Agencia Nacional de Hidrocarburos) extended suspensions of administrative activities.
ANM and ANH maintained suspensions of terms and activities until the preventive isolation is over. The ANM reiterated that the payment of specific economic considerations, the constitution of environmental mining policies and the compliance with standards and requirements related to health and safety in mining activities are not suspended.

Trademark and Patent Office resumes operations.
The Trademark and Patent Office resumed its activities but deadlines regarding renewals of registrations and payment of annuities for the maintenance of patents will remain suspended.

Quality and Continuity of the Aqueduct, Sewerage and Waste Utilities.
Preventive actions of the Superintendence of Public Utilities (Superintendencia de Servicios Públicos Domiciliarios) to maintain the quality and continuity of services. Specific requests were issued for the home public water and sewerage services and for the public household sanitation services.

CREG (Comisión de Regulación de Energía y Gas) plans to order the non-application of supply limitation programs.
CREG issued a Draft Resolution, through which it plans to order the non-application of the energy supply limitation programs.

Representative Offices’ compliance with annual obligations.
The deadline to renew the registry before the Chamber of Commerce of the Representative Offices has been extended until July 3rd.