Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio

The Superintendence of Industry and Commerce (SIC) of Colombia, making use of its powers as the maximum authority in legal metrology, issued the Resolution 88919 of December 28, 2017, which establishes the new technical regulation applicable to breathanalyzers (instrument used to determine the level of alcohol that is present in a liquid or gas. It can be used, therefore, to measure the percentage of alcohol in an alcoholic beverage or to determine the presence of alcohol in the blood).

As of July 1, 2018, all breathanalyzers, domestic or imported, that are planning to be used by transit authorities in Colombia in the prevention and control of people who drive under the influence of alcohol, must comply with the quality requirements established by the SIC to ensure reliable and accurate measures.

Likewise, the SIC has demanded that, in 2020, all breathalyzers used for judicial or administrative purposes will be verified annually by an Authorized Organization of Metrological Verification (OAVM, for its acronym in Spanish), designated by the SIC.

With this measure, the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce seeks that the administrative and judicial decisions that are taken on this issue, such as the imposition of a fine or the decision to send someone to prison, are technically based, thus preventing injustices against citizens.

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