On December 9, 2020, the National Consumer Service (“SERNAC”) issued Exempt Resolution No. 813, which contains the Interpretative Circular on Procedure for Approval of Plans to Comply with Article 24, paragraph 4(c) of Law No. 19.496, which establishes rules on the Protection of Consumer Rights.

In effect, the aforementioned article establishes that substantial collaboration by the supplier to SERNAC will be considered an extenuating circumstance in the context of the application of sanctions, it being understood that such collaboration exists if the supplier has a specific compliance plan referred to the matters subject to the infringement, which has been previously approved by SERNAC and which proves its effective implementation.

Under this budget, the Circular details the steps to be followed by suppliers to access the approval of the compliance plans implemented, in particular, establishing: i) the requirements for the approval of a compliance plan, ii) the existing approval procedures, iii) the validity of the plan, iv) the publicity of the approvals, and iv) the treatment of the information provided by suppliers, during the approval procedure.

Among the main points to be highlighted is the possibility for the supplier to process its application, through an abbreviated procedure, by attaching to its request a certificate issued by an appropriate certifying entity, i.e., one previously verified and registered by SERNAC, by which it is accredited that the compliance plan is implemented in accordance with Law No. 19.496 and other applicable legal and administrative regulations.

However, in the event that the referred certification has not been obtained, the supplier may also submit its compliance request to the general procedure, in which case SERNAC will hire a third party to prepare a technical report that will allow the analysis of the plan.

In case you require additional information on this matter, you may contact Rocio Vergara (rvergara@jdf.cl) and/or Andrea Abascal (aabascal@jdf.cl).