BOGOTA – After analyzing different options to distribute resources from the Protection of the Coffee-Growing Income (PIC) program, the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation(FNC) and Colombia´s government agreed on the rules for processing and payment of the 2014 price subsidy, locally known as PIC.
The government and the coffee growers representatives was agreed to carry on with the program under the premises of agility, security and simplicity for the benefit of coffee growers, strengthening the controls needed to reduce events of fraud.
It is worth remembering that the value of the subsidy will be 145,000 pesos (USD 70.8 as of today) per load (125 kilos of parchment coffee).
When the domestic price is under 480,000 pesos, the aid will be of 165,000 pesos (USD 80.5) per load. In any case, the value of the subsidy plus the price will not exceed the 700,000 pesos per load.
Self-registration form for coffee growers who did not request the AIC-PIC in 2012 and 2013
The new rules for payment of the 2014 PIC state that those producers who did not present payment invoices of their subsidy in 2012 and 2013, must present themselves before March 31 at the offices of the Coffee Growers Committees located throughout the country to update their data in the Coffee-Growing Information System (Sica.)
Once updated, they will choose the payment method for the subsidy – which can then be transferred to the Intelligent Coffee-Growing ID of the producer’s bank account.
Authorized PIC Buyers will be responsible for electronically processing the invoices
With the new 2014 PIC payment system, the producers will no longer have to continue presenting their invoices to the local Coffee Growers Committees. Now, the authorized PIC buyers, which comply with requirements of formality, will be responsible for carrying out this process before the FNC.
This allows for reinforced control activities and accelerated payments to producers, which eliminates the possibility of processing false invoices. In addition, control calls on transactions reported by the authorized PIC buyers will be implemented, verifying their validity with involved producers.
The system will work for sales made in the local market as from January 1, 2014. According to the agreement, the 2014 PIC resources will begin to be delivered on a national scale at the end of this week.
It is worth noting that to have access to the 2014 PIC, producers must continue selling their coffee to the local PIC Authorized Buyers, who will be responsible for sending the daily report of carried out transactions, with accounting records, to the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC).
The system of immediate payment of the PIC at the authorized sites will continue. Through an FNC audio system response an immediate authorization is received for payment of PIC resources to the coffee grower, with previous verification of production capacity and history of PIC aids collected by the producer.
To date, there are 515 PIC Authorized Buyers throughout the country complying with the Resolution 352 of 2013 by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR), which operate a total of 1,873 points of coffee purchase.
The MADR will issue the corresponding provisions that set requirements for accessing the PIC aid and the new regime of authorized buyers.
Source: FNC
