Colombia7 min readUpdated September 24, 2026

How to sell to the government in Colombia: a guide for suppliers

Who buys and where tenders are published

Colombia's public buyers include ministries, departments, municipalities, public hospitals, state universities and every other state entity. The governing body is the National Public Procurement Agency – Colombia Compra Eficiente (ANCP-CCE). It runs SECOP II, the platform where entities publish their processes and where suppliers ask questions, submit bids and sign contracts online. It also runs the Colombian State Virtual Store (TVEC), where entities buy under framework agreements (Acuerdos Marco de Precios).

The core law is Law 80 of 1993 (the General Procurement Statute), amended by Law 1150 of 2007 and regulated by Decree 1082 of 2015. Not every entity follows it the same way: state-owned industrial and commercial companies and mixed-capital companies that compete in open markets use their own procurement manuals (Law 1150, art. 14). If you want to sell to one of them, read its manual.

How to register as a supplier

Two different registrations are often confused: the SECOP II account, which is free and lets you use the platform, and the Single Registry of Bidders (Registro Único de Proponentes, RUP), which is kept by the chambers of commerce and certifies your capacity.

1. Supplier account in SECOP II

1. Go to SECOP II and click "Registro". Use a work email you can access, because process notifications go there. The password needs at least 8 characters with letters, numbers and special characters.
2. Set your user's time zone to your location. For suppliers in Colombia, the official guide says "(UTC-05:00) Bogotá, Lima, Quito".
3. Activate the user through the link sent to your email (check spam) and log in.
4. Search for your company by name and tax ID (NIT, without the check digit) to confirm it is not already registered. If it is not, create the account: type "Proveedor", business area and legal form.
5. Fill in the form, upload the documents and finish. The account is active immediately; ANCP-CCE does not run any further check on what you upload.

The first user becomes the account administrator. If more people in your company will work in SECOP II, each one creates their own user and requests access to the existing company account.

Typical documents for a company:

• A certificate with financial and organisational capacity indicators (SECOP II template).
• A list of contracts that prove your experience with public or private clients (SECOP II template).
• Audited financial statements as of 31 December of the previous year, signed by the legal representative, with notes.
• A signed statement saying whether you authorise state entities to consult databases for institutional purposes.

An individual who is not required to keep accounts submits a statement saying so instead of financial statements, plus a copy of their ID with a watermark stating it is only valid for SECOP II registration. These documents are visible to other users in the platform's directory, and they do not replace the documents each entity asks for in a specific process. According to the official guide, registration is free.

2. Single Registry of Bidders (RUP)

Law 1150 of 2007 (art. 6) requires the RUP from anyone who wants to contract with the state. You file it with the chamber of commerce of your main domicile, and it certifies your experience plus your legal, financial and organisational capacity. Experience is classified with UNSPSC codes down to the third level (class, six digits).

The RUP is not required for direct contracting, minimum-value contracts, health services, concessions, sales of state assets, farm products bought on commodity exchanges, or the commercial activities of state-owned commercial companies. Foreign individuals and companies without a domicile or branch in Colombia do not register either; the contracting entity checks their credentials directly. In consortia and temporary unions, each member registers.

• Renewal: every year, between 1 January and the fifth business day of April. If you miss it, the registration lapses and you must register again from scratch.
• 2026 fees (set by the national government for all chambers): COP 831,000 to register or renew, and COP 444,000 to update.

Procurement methods

Article 2 of Law 1150 of 2007 sets out five methods:

• Public tender (licitación pública): the default when no other method applies.
• Abbreviated selection (selección abreviada): simplified processes for, among other cases, standard goods and services with uniform technical specifications, lower-value contracts (menor cuantía) and tenders that failed.
• Merit competition (concurso de méritos): to select consultants or projects.
• Minimum value (mínima cuantía): contracts worth no more than 10% of the entity's lower-value threshold, whatever the subject. The invitation stays published for at least one business day, and the bid window cannot be shorter.
• Direct contracting (contratación directa): only on the grounds listed in the law, such as declared urgency, contracts between public bodies, lack of multiple possible suppliers, or professional services.

The lower-value threshold (menor cuantía) is not a fixed amount. It depends on the entity's annual budget, measured in monthly minimum wages (SMMLV).

That is why we do not give peso amounts: they move with each year's minimum wage and with each entity's budget. To sell through the State Virtual Store you must first win the relevant framework agreement, which ANCP-CCE awards through its own competitive process.

How to find and follow tenders

• SECOP II public search: without a username or password you can look up processes and Annual Acquisition Plans; read the plans early in the year to see what your potential clients intend to buy. Filter by entity, process number, description, UNSPSC code, status or dates. The detail page shows the full file: tender documents, addenda, questions, evaluation reports and bids.
• With a supplier account: you can register interest, submit questions and bids, take part in electronic auctions and get email notifications.
• On Carbonode: the Colombia page gathers tenders from SECOP II's official open data, with translated titles and a link to the original process. Use it to spot opportunities, and always confirm the details in SECOP II.

Practical tips

• Addenda (adendas): they amend the tender documents and can change requirements or dates. Keep checking the process file until closing day, not only when you first find it.
• Questions and objections (observaciones): if a requirement shuts you out for no good reason, say so in the observations stage. Answers are published, and sometimes the documents change.
• Closing: upload your bid hours early, not minutes. Anything not submitted before the closing time does not count.
• Time zone: Colombia uses UTC−5. If you work from abroad, set your SECOP II user's time zone correctly and double-check the closing time in the schedule.
• Keep the RUP current: put the April renewal in your calendar. An expired RUP keeps you out of every process that requires it.
• Joint bids: to bid as a consortium or temporary union, create the joint bidder (proponente plural) in SECOP II first, well before closing day.
• Language: tender documents are published in Spanish. If your documents are in another language, check what translation or legalisation each tender requires.

Official sources

• SECOP II – Colombia Compra Eficiente (Spanish)
• Supplier registration in SECOP II (Spanish)
• SECOP II supplier registration guide (CCE-SEC-GI-07, 2024) (Spanish)
• SECOP II public search (Spanish)
• Searching SECOP II processes (Spanish)
• Colombian State Virtual Store (Spanish)
• Single Registry of Bidders – Ventanilla Única Empresarial (Spanish)
• Law 1150 of 2007, compiled text (Spanish)

Questions