Chile Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in chile, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Standards for Trade
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Overview

The Chilean Standards System seems to have a balanced approach. There are sectors where the Chilean government promotes the development of their own standards (building and construction, potable water and wastewater treatment, energy, tourism and adventure tourism) and there are other sectors where the market-preferred standard is applied (food quality and financial technologies).

Chile has a mix of voluntary and mandatory standards, and in most sectors, standards are not mandatory. However, companies may voluntarily comply with them, especially in industries where compliance constitutes a “seal of approval”. Certain imported products, such as those related to industrial safety, building and construction materials, and the gas and electrical industries, must comply with the specific requirements of the supervising entity. For example, there are specific regulations pertaining to the seismic resistance of new construction. Chile’s National Standards Institute (INN) also promotes ISO 14000 and ISO 9000 standards among local manufacturers. The chemical industry is an example of one industry that has incorporated ISO 9000 standards into its industrial processes. For agricultural products, the U.S.-Chile FTA includes an agreement on red meat grading standards, which now allows U.S. boneless red meat products to be sold in the Chilean market according to U.S. standards.

INN prepares an Annual Standard Work Plan. Non-manufacturing stakeholders, mainly services, can participate in the development of technical standards.

Standards and Technical Regulations

Generally, ISO or IEC standards are preferred, while U.S., European or regional standards, and the U.N Sustainable Development Objectives (SDO) are also taken into consideration. The standard to be applied will depend on the specific subject and industry. A schedule of upcoming standards development committee meetings, and a forum for public comment are available on the Instituto Nacional de Normalización (INN) website at Consulta Publica and Comités Técnicos. Any institution, private or public, may request the services of the INN for the development of a standard in accordance with most procedures. Institutions and company representatives can be participants in the committee that is created when defining a certain standard. U.S. company representatives have participated in past study discussions and the application to participate can be requested online. For comments on standards, the only requirement is to register once through the website www.consultapublica.cl. This registration allows the participation in all future consultations conducted by the INN’s Standard Division.

Testing, Inspection and Certification

Most products can enter the Chilean market with minimal prior standards testing. However, for those products requiring testing prior to market entry, INN maintains a complete list of accredited testing organizations (Directorio de Acreditados) grouped under the following categories: 

  • Testing laboratories
  • System quality auditors
  • Inspection organizations
  • Product certification
  • Calibration laboratories
  • Quality Management Systems (QMS)
  • Environmental Management Systems (EMS)
     

Publication of Technical Regulations

The process for publishing technical regulations begins after standards are approved by the Instituto Nacional de Normalización (INN). These regulations are then certified by the relevant ministries. Once officially accepted by Chile’s central government, regulations are published in the national government bulletin, the Diario Oficial. Additionally, regulations are published on ministry websites with an official comment period.

For comments on standards, the only requirement is to register once through the website www.consultapublica.cl. This registration allows the participation in all future consultations conducted by the INN’s Standard Division.

Contact Information

Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are required under the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement) to notify the WTO of proposed technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures that could affect trade. Notify U.S. is a free, web-based e-mail registration service that captures and makes available for review and comment key information on draft regulations and conformity assessment procedures. Users receive customized e-mail alerts when new notifications are added by selected country or countries and industry sector(s) of interest and can also request full texts of regulations. This service and its associated web site are managed and operated by the USA WTO TBT Inquiry Point housed within the National Institute of Standards and Technology, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Chile WTO/TBT Enquiry Point

Regulatory Affairs Division

Undersecretary of International Economic Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

tbt_chile@subrei.gob.cl

 

Pedro Ibarra

Head of Standards Division 

Instituto Nacional de Normalización (INN)

+56-2-2445-8850 pedro.ibarra@inn.cl

 

Claudia Melkonian

Standards Liaison

U.S. Embassy Chile

+56-2-2330-3312

claudia.melkonian@trade.gov

 

Use ePing to review proposed technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures

The ePing SPS&TBT platform (https://epingalert.org/), or “ePing”, provides access to notifications made by Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) under the Agreements on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), distributed by the WTO from January 16, 1995 to present.  ePing is available to all stakeholders free of charge and is a versatile tool that can be used to: 

  • Follow and review current and past notifications concerning regulatory actions on products, packaging, labeling, food safety and animal and plant health measures in markets of interest,
  • Receive customized e-mail alerts when new notifications are distributed,
  • Find information on trade concerns discussed in the WTO SPS and TBT Committees.

Per obligation under the TBT Agreement, each WTO Member operates an Enquiry Point. National TBT Enquiry Points are authorized to accept comments and official communications from other national TBT Enquiry Points, which are NOT part of the WTO or the WTO Secretariat.  All comment submissions from U.S. stakeholders, including businesses, trade associations, U.S domiciled standards development organizations and conformity assessment bodies, consumers, or U.S. government agencies on notifications to the WTO TBT Committee should be sent directly to the USA WTO TBT Enquiry Point.  Refer to the comment guidance at https://www.nist.gov/notifyus/commenting for further information. This guidance is provided to assist U.S. stakeholders in the preparation and submission of comments in response to notifications of proposed foreign technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures.

For EU CCG: Include reference to article with a video on CE Mark: https://www.trade.gov/ce-marking