G/TBT/W/711  
3 March  2020 
(20-1597) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original:  Spanish  
 
  
CHILE  − PUBLIC CONSULTATION FOR DRAFT LEGISLATIO N SETTING OUT RULES ON THE 
PREPARATION, DESCRIP TION AND LABELLING O F MILK PRODUCTS OR P RODUCTS 
DERIVING FROM MILK  
STATEMENT BY CHILE T O THE COMMITTEE ON T ECHNICAL BARRIERS TO  TRADE  
26 AND 27 FEBRUARY  2020 
The following communication , dated  2 March  2020, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Chile. 
 
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1.  I am going to expand on the content of docu ment G/TBT/W/698 , which is the response given to 
the concerns raised by the United States and New Zealand  at the last meeting of the TBT Committee 
in November  2019 in document G/TBT/M/79  (Minutes  of the meeting of 12-15 November  2019).  
2.  On 26 September  2019, the text of the draft Law setting out rules on the preparation, description 
and labelling of milk products  or products deriving from milk, which was approved by the Congress 
of Chile, was notified to the WTO in document G/TBT/N/CHL/500 , in compliance with the 
transparency  obligations established  in the WTO 's TBT Agreement . Moreover , the original content of 
the draft parliamentary initiatives (from both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate) was notified 
to the WTO in documents G/TBT/N/CHL/442  and G/TBT/N/CHL/458  on 2 4 May 2018 and  
3 September  2018, respectiv ely. The text was notified at an early appropriate stage, in accordance 
with Article 2.9 of the TBT Agreement, and culminated in the publica tion on 2 November  2019 of 
Law No. 21.179 setting out rules on the preparation, description and labelling of milk products  or 
products deriving from milk . 
3.  Since then, the comments submitted by the countries that responded to the open consultation 
held by the WTO have been reflected in the Law, as the Government of Chile presented them during 
the parliamentary discussion.  
4.  Howe ver, the Legislative Branch operates independently from the Executive Branch, which cannot 
influence or determine, in an absolute manner, the content  of laws during the legislative  process.  
5.  The objective of the notification contained in document G/TBT/N/CHL/500  was to provide 
information on the process, mainly with regard to  the text approved in the Congress, which is a 
different text from those notified on the two previous occasions . It also aimed to obtain the views 
and comments of WTO Members.  
6.  On the basis of that information , the comments were analysed and replies were se nt in writing , 
specifically  to the comments made by the United States , European Union, New Zealand , Mexico, 
Peru, Costa Rica  and Guatemala (G/TBT/N/CHL/500/ Add.1  of 24 February  2020). 
7.  It should be noted  that the period for entry into force is nine months as from  publica tion. 
8.  To provide context, the purpose  of this Law is to improve  consumer information . It should be 
recalled that the Codex General Standard fo r the labelling of pre -packaged foods indicates that labels 
should not be misleading and should indicate the true nature of the food, which was an area to be 
improved for dairy products in Chile.  G/TBT/W/711  
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  9.  Lastly, it is important to highlight and to reiterate that t his Law was the result of a parliamentary 
motion and did not come from the Executive . All the necessary efforts were made to engage in 
discussions with the Parliament on the importance of the obligations of the TBT Agreement and the 
transparency of the pro cess. As is known, the influence of the Executive on the Parliament can be 
quite limited, particularly concerning a draft law resulting from a parliamentary motion, as in this 
case. 
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