[World Trade]{.smallcaps} **G/ADP/N/1/CHL/1**

**G/SCM/N/1/CHL/1**

7 April 1995

[Organization]{.smallcaps}

(95-0858)

Original: Spanish

**Committee on Anti-Dumping Practices**

**Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures**

[NOTIFICATION OF LAWS AND REGULATIONS UNDER]{.underline}

[ARTICLES 18.5 AND 32.6 OF THE AGREEMENTS]{.underline}

[CHILE]{.underline}

The following communication, dated 15 March 1995, has been received from
the Permanent Mission of Chile.

\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

With reference to documents G/ADP/N/1 of the Committee on Anti-Dumping
Practices and G/SCM/N/1 of the Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing
Measures, I have the honour of informing you that the Agreement on
Implementation of Article VI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade 1994 and the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures
are applied with force of law in Chile.

A draft Law is being prepared at the present time to permit a number of
administrative changes.

Until the above draft is approved, the existing legislation, Article 11
of Law No. 18,525, notified to the Committee on Subsidies and
Countervailing Measures by means of document SCM/1/Add.16/Rev.2, and its
most recent Regulation, Decree No. 575 of 17 June 1993, which is
attached, apply to investigations under both Agreements, in so far as
they are not inconsistent with them.

[LAW NO. 18,525, D.O., 30 JUNE 1986]{.underline}

[Rules on the Importation of Goods]{.underline}

[Article 10]{.underline}. Surcharges of 3 per cent, 5 per cent, 8 per
cent, 10 per cent, 12 per cent, 15 per cent, 18 per cent and 20 per cent
ad valorem and countervailing duties are hereby established for imports
of goods of which the entry into the country causes or threatens serious
injury to the domestic industry by entering at diminished prices as a
result of artificial effects in their respective markets. The President
of the Republic shall determine the goods to which these surcharges and
countervailing duties shall apply, as well as their amount and duration,
which shall not exceed one year, after receipt of the report by the
Commission referred to in the following article.[^1]

[Article 11]{.underline}. A National Commission shall be established to
investigate the existence of distortions in the prices of imported
goods. This Commission shall comprise the Inspector-General of the
Economy, who shall be its Chairman; two representatives of the Central
Bank of Chile, who shall be designated by its Board; a representative of
the Ministry of Finance and a representative of the Ministry of the
Economy, Development and Reconstruction, who shall be designated by a
resolution published in the [Diario Oficial]{.underline}; the National
Director of Customs; and a representative of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs designated as mentioned above. The above-mentioned members shall
have the deputies provided for by law or, as appropriate, as designated
by their respective institutions by resolution published in the [Diario
Oficial]{.underline}.[^2]

The Commission shall be responsible for hearing complaints concerning
distortions in the prices of internationally traded goods. To that end
it shall conduct an investigation in each case. It shall report the
opening and subject of an investigation within five working days after
the complaint has been duly lodged, by means of a notice published in
the [Diario Oficial]{.underline}. Within 30 days from the date of such
notice, the Commission shall receive whatever information interested
parties wish to submit and request any reports it considers necessary.
Before reaching a decision it shall also conduct hearings of the
interested parties, at their request, to hear their arguments.[^3]

The complaint submitted to the Commission shall indicate the distortion
and the manner in which it causes or threatens material injury to the
domestic industry affected.

Without prejudice to the provisions of the preceding paragraphs, the
Commission may on its own initiative conduct the investigations referred
to in this article when it possesses information which justifies so
doing. Investigations conducted by the Commission on its own initiative
shall be subject to the same procedure as is established for
investigations upon complaint to the extent applicable.

Within a maximum period of 90 days from the date of publication of the
notice in [Diario Oficial]{.underline}, the Commission shall make a
decision on the facts under investigation on the basis of the
information in its possession. If the Commission considers that on the
basis of such information it is possible to establish the existence of
distortions in the price of the product and that such distortions cause
or threaten material injury to the affected domestic industry, it shall
so state in the decision it delivers for that purpose, in which it shall
recommend, either jointly or separately, the establishment of the
minimum customs values referred to in Article 9 or the surcharges and
countervailing duties referred to in Article 10.

Before delivering the decision referred to in the previous paragraph and
at any stage in the investigation the Commission may request the
President of the Republic, through the Minister of Finance, to establish
within a period of 60 days provisional surcharges and countervailing
duties or minimum customs values. The duration of the surcharges,
countervailing duties or minimum customs values applied under this
paragraph shall not extend beyond the date at which the final decision
is adopted, and shall be payable if they were in force at the time when
the Customs Service accepts an import declaration for processing.

The Commission may at any time request the competent authority to modify
or repeal measures adopted provisionally.

In the event that when the investigation has been completed the
Commission decides that there is no distortion in the price of the goods
concerning which it requested provisional measures, or that distortions
do exist but do not cause or threaten serious injury to the national
economy, the persons affected by the provisional surcharges,
countervailing duties or minimum customs values may apply for the refund
of such payments. Likewise, the persons concerned may request the total
or partial refund of amounts paid under such provisional measures when,
following a recommendation by the Commission in the relevant resolution
that definitive surcharges, countervailing duties or minimum customs
values be imposed, the competent authority does not impose any such
measure or adopts a measure for a lower amount than that which had to be
paid under the provisional measure. Current interest shall accrue on the
amounts to be refunded. Application for refund must be made within
90 days of the date of entitlement to refund, after which the right
thereto shall lapse.

The resolutions of the Commission shall be adopted by a majority of
votes; in the case of a tied vote the Chairman shall have the deciding
vote.

The Commission established in the first paragraph of this Article shall
also be responsible for conducting investigations under the Agreement on
Interpretation and Application of Articles VI, XVI, and XXIII of the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade approved by Decree Law No. 3,567
of 1980 and enacted by Supreme Decree of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
No. 300 of 1981.

Regulations enacted by Supreme Decree of the Ministry of Finance shall
establish the necessary procedure for the collection of the duties,
taxes and other charges arising out of the provisional imposition of
minimum customs values, surcharges and countervailing duties and their
refund, where appropriate. The regulations shall also determine the
procedures necessary for the implementation of the provisions of this
article.[^4]

The Central Bank of Chile shall act as the Technical Secretariat of the
Commission referred to in the first paragraph of this Article.[^5]

DECREE NO. 575 OF THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE

*Adopting regulations Under Article 11 of Law No. 18,525*

No. 575-Santiago, 17 June 1993. Having regard to the provisions of
Decree Law No. 3,567 of 1980, approving the Agreement on Interpretation
and Application of Articles VI, XVI and XXIII of the General Agreement
on Tariffs and Trade, enacted by Supreme Decree of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, No. 300 of 1981, as well as Article 11 of Law
No. 18,525 and the powers conferred upon me by paragraph 8 of Article 32
of the Political Constitution of the Republic of Chile,

[I hereby decree]{.underline}:

The following regulations under the provisions of Article 11 of Law No.
18,525 concerning investigations into the existence of distortions in
the prices of imported goods are hereby adopted.

TITLE 1

THE NATIONAL COMMISSION

Article 1: The National Commission created under Article 11 of Law No.
18,525, hereinafter called \"the Commission\", shall be the body
responsible for investigating the existence of distortions in the prices
of imported goods and for proposing to the President of the Republic,
through the Minister of Finance, in the cases where it is appropriate,
the application of countervailing duties, anti-dumping duties, minimum
customs values and tariff surcharges.

The application of such measures may be recommended only when the
Commission, in the relevant investigation, finds that the import of such
goods causes or threatens actual or imminent serious injury to the
domestic industry and that its principal cause is a distortion which
diminishes the prices of the goods, in accordance with the terms of
Articles 9 and 10 of Law No. 18,525.

For the purposes of determining the existence of possible distortions in
the prices of imported goods, it shall be understood that they can be
caused *inter alia* by the occurrence of the following situations, the
general concepts of which are the following:

1\. \"Subsidy\" means any bounty or subsidy that a government grants or
has granted, directly or indirectly, on the manufacture, production or
export of a product in the country of origin or exportation, including
any special subsidy to the transportation of such products, any form of
support to the internal prices in the country of origin and the
foregoing or non-collection of government revenue that would otherwise
be due.

2\. \"Dumping\". A product shall be considered to have been dumped when,
by means of unfair measures, it has been imported at a price that is
less than its normal value, namely, when the export price to Chile is
less than the comparable price, in the ordinary course of trade, for the
like product when destined for consumption in the exporting country,
under competitive conditions.

When there are no sales of the like product in the ordinary course of
trade in the domestic market of the exporting country or when, because
of the particular market situation, including the low volume of sales,
such sales do not permit a proper comparison, the margin of dumping
shall be determined by comparison with:

(a)A comparable price of the like product when it is exported to a third
country, provided that this price is representative, or

(b)The cost of production in the country of origin, plus a reasonable
amount for administrative costs, selling costs and costs of any other
type, as well as for profits.

TITLE 2

Article 2: The Commission shall comprise:

\(a\) The Inspector-General of the Economy, who shall be its Chairman;

\(b\) two representatives of the Central Bank of Chile, designated by
its Board;

\(c\) a representative of the Ministry of Finance;

\(d\) a representative of the Ministry of Economy, Development and
Reconstruction;

\(e\) the National Director of Customs; and

\(f\) a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The representatives indicated in subparagraphs (b), (c), (d) and (f)
above shall be designated by their respective institutions by
Resolution, which shall be published in the [Diario
Oficial]{.underline}.

The members of the Commission referred to in subparagraphs (a) and (e)
above shall have deputies in accordance with the law. The other members
shall have as deputies those persons designated by their respective
institutions by Resolution, which shall be published in the [Diario
Oficial]{.underline}.

The members of the Commission shall carry out their functions in an
honorary capacity and shall respect the privacy of confidential
information that comes to their knowledge in the exercise of their
functions.

Article 3: The Chairman of the Commission, in addition to his
responsibilities as a member of the Commission, shall:

1.Convene meetings, indicate the items on the respective agenda, open
and close meetings and guide the discussions;

2.Put to the Commission for decision any points of order raised and any
votes that are required;

3.Cast the deciding vote in the event of a tie; and

4.Issue whatever communications are required for the Commission to
fulfil its functions.

Article 4: The Commission shall hold regular and extraordinary meetings;
the quorum of the meeting shall be at least four of its members and
shall in all cases include the Chairman or his legally-appointed deputy.

Meetings shall be held at the place and time mentioned in the
corresponding convocation and shall be devoted to dealing with the items
included in their respective agenda, which shall be drawn up in
accordance with the instructions given by the Chairman. Extraordinary
meetings of the Commission shall be held at the request of the Chairman
or of at least two of its members.

Convocations to ordinary meetings, which shall be made in writing be
means of a communication issued by the Chairman, shall give at least
three working-days\' notice. Convocations for extraordinary meetings,
shall be made in the form determined by the Chairman. All the available
information required for the Commission to fulfil its responsibilities
shall be included in convocations.

Article 5: The meetings of the Commission may be attended by such
invited persons as at least three of its members decide to call upon for
the examination of the matters indicated in the respective convocations.

Before resolving any matter submitted to it, the Commission shall
receive interested parties who so request in writing at least three
working days before the date on which the Chairman informs them that the
relevant meeting will be held. The Chairman, with the agreement of the
Commission, shall determine the time of the hearing and shall indicate
in the convocation the date and time at which it will be held.

Article 6: The Commission shall adopt its decisions by a majority of the
votes cast and in the event of a tie the Chairman shall have the
deciding vote.

Article 7: The deliberations and decisions of the Commission shall be
consigned in an official record kept by the Technical Secretariat, which
shall set down the decisions adopted, the votes held and the
explanations of votes by the minority. The official record shall be
approved by the members of the Commission and issued by the Chairman of
the Commission and the person responsible for the management of the
Technical Secretariat, at the latest at the following meeting, unless it
is held within five working days of the meeting covered by in the
official record, in which case it may be issued at the latest at the
subsequent meeting and shall be supplemented by all the information that
became available at that meeting.

Article 8: The official records shall be kept in the archives of the
Technical Secretariat and shall be public. The corresponding information
shall also be public, except when by its nature it is confidential or
the interested party which provided it expressly requested
confidentiality on justified grounds. In this latter case, the
interested party shall furnish public summaries and if, in such cases,
it fails to duly provide such summaries without just cause, the
Commission may disregard the confidential or reserved information.

Article 9: The Commission shall have a Technical Secretariat in the
Central Bank of Chile, managed by the person designated by the Board of
the Bank.

The Secretariat shall be responsible, in accordance with the
instructions given to it by the Commission, for gathering information on
distortions in the prices of goods that are imported; preparing the
respective reports; receiving complaints concerning distortions in the
prices of goods that are traded on international markets and other
communications to the Commission; issuing convocations and
communications or publications emanating from the Commission; and in
general discharging the other duties indicated in this Regulation and
any other tasks which facilitate the work of the Commission.

The reports issued by the Technical Secretariat shall contain as a
minimum a reasoned presentation of the information, the verification and
analysis of any distortions in prices, and the manner in which these
cause or threaten actual or imminent serious injury to the domestic
industry.

TITLE II

COMPLAINTS AND INVESTIGATIONS OF DISTORTIONS

IN THE PRICES OF IMPORTED GOODS

Article 10: Any natural or legal person concerned may make a complaint
to the Commission concerning distortions in the prices of imported
goods.

For this purpose, the complainant shall submit the corresponding written
complaint to the Technical Secretariat, addressed to the Chairman of the
Commission, and complete the form provided for this purpose by the
Secretariat.

The complaint shall include the information and evidence which, in the
view of the complainant, demonstrate:

(a)The existence of a distortion of prices;

(b)the manner in which the distortion causes or threatens actual or
imminent serious injury to the domestic industry; and

\(c\) the causal link between the imports and the alleged injury.

The above-mentioned form shall as a minimum contain information which
enables the complainant to form an opinion of dumping, subsidies, injury
to an industry and the causal link between price distortion and the
injury caused or threatened to a domestic industry.

Article 11: Once the particulars specified in the form referred to in
the previous Article have been satisfactorily provided, the Technical
Secretariat shall so certify and immediately inform the complainant in a
written communication addressed to the domicile indicated in the
complaint submitted. The complaint shall be considered to have been
formally lodged on the working day following the date of the above
certification and the Technical Secretariat shall bring it to the
cognizance of the Commission without further formalities.

Complaints which do not comply with the requirements set out in the
previous Article shall be returned to the interested party by the
Technical Secretariat within 10 working days of their submission.

Any doubt or discrepancy which may arise relating to the return as set
out in the previous paragraph, of the particulars specified in the form
shall be resolved by the Chairman of the Commission, who shall decide as
the sole instance. For this purpose, the complainant shall have recourse
to the above-mentioned Chairman.

Article 12: Within five working days of the date of the formal lodging
of a complaint, the Commission shall reach a decision concerning the
initiation of an investigation, which it shall notify through the
publication of a notice in the [Diario Oficial]{.underline}, at the
expense of the complainant, which shall contain an extract of the
particulars of the complaint and at least the following indications:

(a)The date of the formal lodging of the complaint;

(b)the products covered by the complaint and its tariff classification;

(c)the identity of the complainant or complainants;

(d)the identity of the producers, exporters and importers of the goods;

(e)the country of origin of the corresponding product or products;

(f)a description of the practice or indication of the measure causing
the alleged distortion of prices;

(g)a brief analysis of the factors allegedly causing the injury to the
domestic industry;

(h)the decision of the Commission as to whether or not the complaint has
given rise to an investigation; and

(i)the address of the Technical Secretariat, with an indication that any
interested party may raise matters in writing concerning the complaint
or request a hearing before the Commission.

Article 13: Complaints in respect of which it is decided to initiate an
investigation shall be notified by the Commission to the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs so that, where appropriate, the latter can notify the
countries whose products are to be investigated, with a view to any
consultations that may be required.

Article 14: Within a period of 30 days from the date of the publication
in the [Diario Oficial]{.underline} of the notice of initiation of an
investigation, as set out in Article 12 above, the Commission shall,
through the Technical Secretariat, receive those particulars concerning
the investigation which the parties or any third parties concerned
consider it appropriate to submit and shall request the reports that it
considers necessary. If information is provided which is qualified as
confidential and a public summary of such information satisfactory to
the Commission is not supplied, the latter may disregard that
information in the investigation, without prejudice to the provisions of
Article 8 of this Regulation.

Article 15: Within the time-limit of 90 days from the date of
publication in the [Diario Oficial]{.underline} of the notice of the
initiation of an investigation, as set out in Article 12 of this
Regulation, the Commission shall reach a decision concerning the matters
under investigation on the basis of the information in its possession.

If, in the opinion of the Commission, on the basis of such information
it is possible to establish the existence of distortions in the price of
the imported product and that such distortions are producing the effects
indicated in the second paragraph of Article 1 of this Regulation, it
shall so state in its decision, in which it shall also recommend,
jointly or separately, the establishment of the minimum customs values
referred to in Article 9 of Law No. 18,525 or the surcharges,
countervailing duties or anti-dumping duties referred to in Article 10
of the above Law.

In any event, the measure recommended may not be greater than the margin
of price distortion.

Where, in the opinion of the Commission, it is not possible on the basis
of the information to conclude that there are price distortions or that
these distortions are giving rise to the effects indicated above, it
shall terminate the investigation giving the duly supported reasons for
its decision. An extract of the decision adopted, drawn up in accordance
with the provisions of the following Article, shall be brought to the
notice of the interested parties by the Commission through publication
in the [Diario Oficial]{.underline}.

Article 16: The decision of the Commission establishing the existence of
distortions in the price of the imported product referred to in the
previous Article shall be transmitted, together with the particulars and
conclusions of the investigation, to the President of the Republic,
through the Minister of Finance, who shall in turn inform the Commission
of the final decision of the President of the Republic.

An extract of that decision shall be notified by the Commission to the
interested parties once the corresponding Decree has been published in
the [Diario Oficial]{.underline}.

This extract shall contain as a minimum the particulars indicated in
subparagraphs (a) to (g) of Article 12 of this Regulation and
information which *inter alia* summarizes the following aspects:

(a)The findings relating to the margin of price distortion;

(b)the considerations relating to the determination of the injury;

(c)the considerations relating to the determination of the causal link
between the price distortion investigated and the injury caused or
threatened to the domestic industry; and

(d)the definitive decision of the President of the Republic.

Article 17: The investigations that the Commission decides to conduct on
its own initiative, when in possession of information which justifies so
doing, shall be subject to the same procedure as established for
investigations upon complaint to the extent applicable.

Article 18: The Commission may at any time, when in possession of
information for so doing, recommend to the President of the Republic,
through the Minister of Finance, that the measures in force be modified
or repealed before they are due to expire.

In order to make the recommendation referred to above, the Commission
must have previously heard the views of the interested parties on the
information which, in its opinion, makes it necessary to modify or
repeal the measure adopted. The interested parties shall be considered
to have been heard 10 working days after having been sent the
corresponding communication transmitted by the Commission, whether or
not they have made observations concerning the information brought to
their attention.

TITLE III

PROVISIONAL MEASURES

Article 19: Before reaching the decision referred to in the previous
Article, the Commission may, at any stage in the investigation and
within a period of 60 days of its initiation, when it is necessary to
avoid or prevent injury to the domestic industry, request the President
of the Republic, through the Minister of Finance, to establish
provisional minimum customs duties, surcharges, anti-dumping duties or
countervailing duties as referred to in Articles 9 and 10 of Law No.
18,525.

Article 20: The surcharges, anti-dumping duties, countervailing duties
or minimum customs values applied by virtue of the request referred to
in the previous Article shall remain in force, at the most, until such
time as the definitive decision is adopted and shall be payable if they
were in force at the time when the respective import declaration was
accepted for processing by the Customs Service.

Article 21: An extract of the recommendation made by the Commission
under the terms of Article 19 shall be communicated by the Commission to
the interested parties following the publication in the [Diario
Oficial]{.underline} of the statement by the President of the Republic
applying one of the provisional measures requested.

The above extract shall contain, as a minimum, the particulars set out
in subparagraphs (a) to (g) of Article 12 and a summary of the
considerations taken into account by the Commission in making its
preliminary determination of the existence of price distortion and of
injury or threat of injury to a domestic industry and in establishing
that they are caused principally by the existence of the price
distortion.

Article 22: In the event that, upon conclusion of the investigation, the
Commission decides that there is no distortion in the price of the
product in respect of which it requested provisional measures, or that,
although distortions exist, they are not causing or threatening actual
or imminent serious injury to the domestic industry, it may request the
President of the Republic to repeal the provisional measures that have
been applied.

An extract of the decision taken by the Commission under the terms of
this Article shall be communicated by the Commission to the interested
parties following the publication in the [Diario Oficial]{.underline} of
the respective decision of the President of the Republic.

The above extract shall contain, as a minimum, the particulars set out
in subparagraphs (a) to (g) of Article 12 and a summary of the
considerations taken into account by the Commission in requesting the
modification or elimination of the provisional measures.

Article 23: The Commission may at any time request the President of the
Republic, through the Minister of Finance, to modify or repeal a
provisional measure.

Article 24: Persons affected by provisional measures which are
definitively repealed or modified may apply for the refund of the amount
paid or the excess amount paid under the respective measures in cases
where the Commission decides, upon the conclusion of the investigation,
that there is no distortion in the price of the products in respect of
which it requested provisional measures or that, although there are
distortions, they are not causing or threatening actual or imminent
serious injury to the domestic industry.

The persons affected may also request the total or partial refund of the
amount paid under such provisional measures in the case where the
Commission has recommended through the relevant decision the definitive
application of surcharges, anti-dumping duties and countervailing duties
or minimum customs values, but these measures were not imposed by the
competent authority, or were imposed for an amount lower than that which
had to be paid under the provisional measures.

Current interest shall accrue on the amounts to be refunded. Interested
parties must apply for a refund within 90 days of the date on which they
became entitled to such refund, after which the right thereto shall
elapse.

Article 25: The duties, taxes and other charges resulting from the
provisional establishment of minimum customs values shall be collected
by replacing in the import declaration the customs value that should
have been entered in accordance with the normal rules of valuation by
the provisional minimum customs value to be applied, provided it is
higher than the former amount.

Article 26: The duties, taxes and other charges resulting from the
provisional establishment of surcharges, anti-dumping duties or
countervailing duties shall be collected by entering the percentage to
be applied in the import declaration and the amount to be paid under
such measures in the voucher of receipt of payment, which amount shall
be the result of applying the percentage of the surcharge, anti-dumping
duty or countervailing duty to the customs value of the item.

Article 27: In the event of the refund of duties, taxes and other
charges resulting from the provisional establishment of minimum customs
values, surcharges, anti-dumping duties and countervailing duties, the
importer requesting the refund must submit an application in writing to
the regional director or administrator at customs with whom the import
declaration in question was lodged, together with a certified copy of
the corresponding import declaration-voucher of receipt of payment.

FINAL TITLE

Article 28: The National Commission indicated in Title I of this
Regulation shall also be responsible for conducting investigations under
the Agreement on Interpretation and Application of Articles VI, XVI and
XXIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, approved by Decree
Law No. 3,567 of 1980 and enacted by Supreme Decree of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs No. 300 of 1981.

Article 29: Supreme Decree No. 545 of the Ministry of Finance, published
in the [Diario Oficial]{.underline} of 4 September 1990, is hereby
repealed.

For review, information and publication. PATRICIO AYLWIN AZOCAR,
President of the Republic. Alejandro Foxley Rioseco, Minister of
Finance.

Transcribed for your information.

Yours faithfully,

Jorge Rodriguez Grossi,

Under-Secretary of Finance

[^1]: ^?^Article 10 replaced as indicated by No. 4 of the single Article
    of Law No. 18,908, D.O., 24 January 1990.

[^2]: ^?^Paragraph 1 of Article 11 replaced by the insert in the present
    text by Article 2, No. 9(a), of Law 18,840, D.O., 10 October 1989.

[^3]: ^?^The second to penultimate paragraphs of Article 11 in this text
    replace the previous paragraphs 2, 3 and 4, in accordance with
    paragraph 5 of the single Article of Law No. 18,908, D.O.,
    24 January 1990.

[^4]: ^\*^ ^\*^Ministry of Finance Decree No. 545, D.O., 4 September
    1990. Regulations of Article 11 of Law 18,525 concerning
    investigations into distortions in prices of imported goods.

[^5]: ^?^Paragraph added by paragraph IX(b) of Article Two of Law No.
    18,840, D.O., 10 October 1989.