Goods Bill: Complying with the Requirements of the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement commercial contracts, real estate transactions, business and corporate law. commercial law and bankruptcy procedures. Av. Street 72 # 6-30, 14 Floor Bogotá - Colombia (+57 1) 210 1000 Phone (+57 1) 211 9465 Fax jalzate@pgplegal.com gramirez@pgplegal.com www.pgplegal.com regulated in Chapter V, Articles 1317 to 1331, of the Colombian Commerce Code "CCO" (Decree 410 of 1971). The Commercial Agency Contract concept includes services and goods and is defined in Article 1317 of the above- mentioned Code, as follows: "Through the agency contract, one businessmen assumes in an independent and steady way, the obligation to promote or exploit business in a specific commercial branch and within a prefixed zone in the national territory, as the representative or agent of a domestic or foreign principal or as a manufacturer or distributor of one or more of the principal's products. The person assuming such an obligation is generally known as the agent." On the other hand, the most impor- tant and critical aspects of the actual Commercial Agency Contract are related to the (i) justified and (ii) unjustified regulated in the Articles 1324, 1325 and 1327 of the CCO. According to these rules, in the first event, the principal will have to pay to the agent for each year of the contract period, an amount equal to one-twelfth of the average commission, royalty or profit, received by the agent during the previ- ous three years of the contract (or the average based of all the remuneration if the contract is shorter). This payment has been named by the Colombian Doctrine as "Cesantía Comercial." In the second event, the agent, based on his efforts to improve and upgrade the market position and goodwill of the brand, products and services subject of the contract, has the right to demand, in addition to the sum aforementioned, compensation from the principal. In this case, to determine the amount of compensation, it's necessary to consider the business and commercial activities held by the agent during the contractual relationship. Notwithstanding, it is important to mention that the same rule applies when the agent finishes the contract with justification attributable to the business- men, and that the agent loses his right to demand compensation from the principal if the contract terminates due his fault. Supreme Court of Justice regarding the Commercial Agency Contract 1990s, the Commercial Agency Contract was subject to an intense debate in the High Courts, especially regarding the subject of the existence of Commercial Agency Contract on parallel with a Dis- tribution Contract. In the 1980s, the Colombian in- dustry was deeply concerned by the possibility that their distributors could come back to them claiming the existence of a Commercial Agency Contract and thus the payment of the |