Russia resumes soft wheat exports to Colombia with 16,000-tonne shipment
Russia has shipped 16,000 tonnes of soft wheat from Novorossiysk to Colombia, its first direct delivery to the country since 2023. The cargo passed Colombia’s phytosanitary, food safety and radiological requirements, reopening access to a market that imports 2–2.2 million tonnes of wheat annually.
First direct shipment since 2023
Russia has resumed direct wheat exports to Colombia with a 16,000-tonne shipment of soft wheat from the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. It is the first Russian wheat cargo sent directly to the Latin American country since 2023, ending a three-year interruption in supplies.
The Novorossiysk branch of the Federal Centre for Quality and Safety Assurance for Grain and Grain Products, known as the Centre for Grain Quality Assessment, said its specialists examined five grain lots with a combined volume of 16,000 tonnes. The shipment’s clearance gives Russian suppliers a renewed entry point into a market that depends entirely on imported commercial wheat.
Cargo clears stringent Colombian controls
Colombia applies detailed food safety limits to imported grain. The National Institute for Food and Drug Surveillance, INVIMA, monitors mycotoxins and heavy metals under Resolution 4506 of 2013. Total aflatoxin content may not exceed 4 micrograms per kilogram, while the limits for ochratoxin A and zearalenone are 5 and 100 micrograms per kilogram, respectively. Cadmium and lead are each capped at 0.20 milligrams per kilogram.
The cargo also had to comply with radiological safety rules. The specific activity of strontium-90 and iodine-131 must remain below 100 becquerels per kilogram, while the ceiling for ruthenium-103 and caesium isotopes is 1,000 becquerels per kilogram.
In addition, the wheat passed phytosanitary checks confirming the absence of quarantine pests, including dermestid beetles and grain beetles. It underwent mandatory disinfestation in accordance with standards set by the Colombian Agricultural Institute, ICA. Meeting these requirements is commercially significant because it demonstrates that Russian grain can clear Colombia’s technical controls without changes to the stated quality thresholds.
An import market of up to 2.2 million tonnes
Colombia does not produce commercial wheat and purchases between 2 million and 2.2 million tonnes abroad each year. Around 70% of that volume is used to make flour for bread and confectionery, segments that require wheat with medium or high protein content. The country therefore offers a recurring demand base, although the 16,000-tonne Russian shipment represents only a small share of annual requirements.
The return of wheat also broadens an existing bilateral commodity trade. Russia exports mineral fertilisers to Colombia and buys Colombian coffee, bananas and flowers. Trade turnover between the two countries increased by 24% in 2025. In the first half of 2026, bananas accounted for 41.4% of Colombia’s exports to Russia. For Russian grain exporters, successful execution of the Novorossiysk cargo establishes a route that could support further sales, provided future lots continue to meet Colombia’s demanding sanitary and quality standards.
