María Paula Sanchez is a Partner at Posse Herrera Ruiz and leads the firm’s international trade and customs practice. A distinguished lawyer in international trade and customs law, she advises companies, industry associations, and government entities on managing complex legal and technical challenges. With more than fifteen years of experience, her practice spans the structuring of operations and transactions with tax and foreign trade implications; the design and implementation of customs compliance programs; advisory on free trade zones, international trading companies, and other foreign trade promotion instruments; and strategic guidance on regulatory and trade policy matters.

She has a proven track record representing clients in international trade disputes, including trade remedies—antidumping duties, countervailing duties, and safeguards—as well as in high‑complexity customs litigation.

 Experience and academic leadership

She has served as a principal member of the Board of Directors of the Colombian Institute of Customs Law (ICDA); a member of the Board of Directors of the Colombian Institute of Tax Law (ICDT); and co‑director of the ICDT’s Tax and Customs Jurisprudence Observatory. In academia, she has taught at Universidad Javeriana (International Economic Law); Universidad EAFIT (undergraduate and Master’s in International Business – MIB); Universidad de la Sabana (Master’s); Universidad Autónoma de Occidente (Specialization in Customs Law); the International Trade Center (UN/WTO) in Geneva; and Maastricht University (Brussels Campus) in specialization courses in taxation. She is co‑author of books and articles on customs, tax, and foreign trade.

She is currently co‑editor of the ICDT Journal, a professor in the Customs Law specialization at Universidad del Rosario (Trade Defense Instruments and International Trade Barriers), and a member of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Working Groups on Customs Valuation, Origin, and Trade Facilitation.