Chile Regulatory News

Chile’s Environmental Ministry (MMA) promulgated on February 28, 2022, a Decree establishing collection and recycling goals for batteries and Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE). Furthermore...

Chile’s Environmental Ministry (MMA) promulgated on February 28, 2022, a Decree establishing collection and recycling goals for batteries and Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE). Furthermore, Decree 207/2022 imposes obligations associated with priority products, batteries and electrical and electronic devices in order to prevent the generation of such waste and promote its reuse or recovery.

All batteries and EEE present in the Chilean market up to 1500 volts direct current or 1000 volts alternating current falls under scope. It is further established batteries and EEE categories and subcategories, which are:

·       Large Devices: EEE with an external dimension greater than 50 centimeters

o   Temperature Exchange Devices.

o   Other Large Devices.

o   Photovoltaic panels.

·       Small Devices: EEE not contained in the Large Devices category

·       Large Batteries: Batteries with a weight greater than 5 kilograms.

·       Small Batteries: Batteries not contained in the Large Batteries category.

Decree 207/2022 also provides limits of hazardous substances in batteries. Chile banned Large Batteries with mercury concentrations greater than 0.1% by weight and Small Batteries with cadmium concentrations greater than 0.01% by weight. Emergency equipment, alarms, and medical devices are exempt from this rule.

The collection goals shall reach a minimum threshold, continuously increasing each year:

Management systems may be individual or collective. Individual management system and collective system composed with a maximum of 20 independent producers must reach indicated goal based on batteries and EEE amounts placed into the market. Larger management systems may meet their targets with any batteries and EEE waste, not necessarily those produced or imported by them.

Interested parties may submit comments within 30 business days, counting from the publication date (March 10). Observations must be sent via the Citizen Consultations Portal.

The document is fully available here. 

Since February 13, 2022, single-use plastics products have faced a ban in Chile. Law 21.368 was published in August 2021 and aims to fight back the indiscriminate use of single-use plastics in diffe...

Since February 13, 2022, single-use plastics products have faced a ban in Chile. Law 21.368 was published in August 2021 and aims to fight back the indiscriminate use of single-use plastics in different forms.

The single-use plastic restriction is only the start of an increasing effort to promote recycling and drive the country towards Circular Economy concepts. The recently published legislation also limits the generation of related disposable products, regulates plastics, and impose additional rules that will progressively enter into force.

In this respect, food retail establishments are forbidden to use and distribute single-use use products, such as glasses, cups, cutlery, chopsticks, stirs, mugs, straws, plates, goblets, boxes or food containers with foodstuff, trays, and sachets to be used in the business.

When consumers request a "to-go" meal, disposable products must be made of materials other than plastics, or be certified plastics in accordance with the Ministry of Environment certification guideline. The Ministry has 18 months to announce the regulation.

Beverage merchants must comply with a minimum percentage of recycled material when referring to the composition of plastic bottles, as well as offering returnable bottles scheme to consumers. The minimum recycled plastic content in bottles is to be successively implemented, not being less than 15% in 2025; 25% in 2030; 50% in 2040; 60% in 2050; and reaching 70% in 2060. In addition, manufacturers and importers are in charge of implementing awareness programs to promote recycling and the ecological impacts it may cause.

Any business that does not comply with the provisions is subjected to fines.

On January 21, 2022, Chile published the determination decision to start the elaboration of a decree to regulate the instrument intended to prevent waste generation and promote waste recovery.The futu...

On January 21, 2022, Chile published the determination decision to start the elaboration of a decree to regulate the instrument intended to prevent waste generation and promote waste recovery.

The future Decree will focus on household products, especially food, personal hygiene, and cleaning products. The labeling of the articles above must display the information on the components, composition, and instructions for recycling.

It also foresees the creation of a voluntary certification program for household packing when meeting specific recyclability criteria. The Decree will be closely related to Decree 12/2020, responsible for setting Chile's packing collection and recovery goals.

To obtain the recyclability seal, manufacturers must observe:

• that at least 80% of the weight of the container is made of technically recyclable materials;
• that the materials can be separated from the rest of the container; and
•       that there is currently demand from the recycling industry for these materials.

In September, Chile reaffirmed commitments with the Latin American Regulatory Cooperation Forum (LARCF), an association promoting dialogue and information exchange, training initiatives, a...

In September, Chile reaffirmed commitments with the Latin American Regulatory Cooperation Forum (LARCF), an association promoting dialogue and information exchange, training initiatives, and regulatory cooperation through national chemical associations. At a recent meeting, the Chilean authorities demonstrated how the forthcoming notification platform would perform.  

Authorities intend to gradually submit the system to new usability tests; therefore, other testing and showcase sessions will take place until December 2022. Currently, the system can record new substance notifications, including:  

• If the substance is produced or imported  
• Substance information (official and common names, CAS number)  
• Substance hazard class and hazard category  
• Type of use, sector, and product category  
• Imported/manufactured quantity  
• Substance SDS uploads  

The substance notification was created under the new chemical management regulation (Decree 57), published in February 2021. The first notification window is scheduled between February 2024 and August 30, 2024, indicating that non-industrial substances notified after the initial notification period will be handled as “new substances”. Accordingly, an official national chemical inventory will be published by December 31, 2024.  

In Chile, manufacturers and importers shall submit updated information (e.g., tonnage bands) every two years through the notification portal as part of the notification system. In addition, certain substances are required to undergo risk assessment, although the substance list and assessment criteria have until June 30, 2022, to be published. 

 On August 23, 2021, Chile published the official list for the classification of chemical substances through Resolution 777. The list, commonly referred to as “Official List of Substances Classification”, is based on the GHS 7th version.  

Manufacturers exporting chemicals to Chile are recommended to follow up the latest regulatory obligations and start preparing. 

Last update: 2021-11-05

On February 9, 2021, Chile approved its rules for the classification, labeling, and notification of dangerous chemical substances and mixtures (Decree 57) in the official gazette. Decree 57 was ...

On February 9, 2021, Chile approved its rules for the classification, labeling, and notification of dangerous chemical substances and mixtures (Decree 57) in the official gazette. Decree 57 was promulgated in November 2019 and communicated to the WTO on 10 February 2021.

The new legislation targets manufacturers and importers of chemicals and dangerous substances that are not supervised by other regulations. 

Notifiers are requested to provide information on chemicals when dealing with 1 ton per year or above via the environmental authority portal. The notification is made on a biennial basis concerning the import or produced quantity every two year with the deadline on August 30th.

According to the law, applicants for substances for industrial use have three years to submit their first notification. As for substances for non-industrial use, it allows four years to notify. The recent deadlines are summarized below:

Decree 57 also further outlines the compulsory compliance of GHS in the country, a standard until then has been voluntary. The country has taken a step forward and decided to apply the standard to both industrial and consumer products. 

The GHS standards will phase-in following the periods:

In South America, Chile was the first country to join OECD and the first to implement and mandatory national inventory. It can be expected that other countries in the region will soon follow up and update their chemical agenda. 

Latest update: 2021-03-30