‘Decree banning coal exports violates rules of free economic competition’

The government of President Gustavo Petro confirmed this weekend the approval of the decree prohibiting the export of coal to Israel, as a measure of opposition to the war in the Gaza Strip.

(You may be interested in: Hamas thanked Petro for banning Colombian coal exports to Israel).

“Colombian coal is used to make bombs to kill Palestinian children”Petro said this Sunday on his X account, after the official decree was announced.

With the approval of this decree “Exports of thermal coal (coal) to the State of Israel are prohibited”says the document, which was signed by several ministers, including the foreign minister, Luis Gilberto Murillo, on August 14 and will come into force in a few days, despite the fact that the ban was already announced by Petro in June.

(We also recommend: Ban on coal exports to Israel puts $650 billion at risk).

Given this decision, Several expert voices have raised the alarm about the inappropriateness of the decision and the risk to the country’s public finances..

Furthermore, there are those who claim that the decree is actionable for violating constitutional norms.

This was stated by the former Superintendent of Industry and Commerce and former Vice Minister of Justice, Pablo Felipe Robledo, who in a message on his account on the social network X assured that “The decree issued by the government of Gustavo Petro that prohibits coal exports to Israel can be challenged before the Council of State for violating the constitutional and legal norms of protection of free economic competition”.

For his part, the former Minister of Finance, José Manuel Restrepo, said that the approval of this decree is a “totally wrong decision”.

(Besides: What the decree officially banning coal exports to Israel says).

“How much pragmatism we lack in public policy decisions. Who is responsible for the 1 billion dollars that our businessmen lose? Who is responsible for their jobs and their tax revenue? How easy it is to make decisions from offices and put the economy at risk! When will we put less ideology into economic decisions?”Restrepo wrote.

Fuels and extractive industry products, including coalis Colombia’s main export, and between January and June has brought in 11.689 billion dollars for the country, with the United States being the main destination.

Coal is Colombia’s main export product to Israel, but it only represented 5.05% of the total coal exported by Colombia in 2023, according to the decree.

PORTFOLIO