G/RO/LDC/N/CHL/1  
18 October  2017 
(17-5642) Page: 1/8 
Committee on Rules of Origin  Original:  Spanish  
 
  NOTIFICATION OF PREFERENTIAL RULES OF ORIGIN  
FOR LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES  
CHILE 
The following communication , dated  4 October 2 017, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Chile.  
 
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Paragraph 4.3 of the 2015 Ministerial Deci sion on preferential rules of origin for least developed 
countries (WT/L/917/Add.1) requires preference -granting Members to notify preferential rules of 
origin as per the established procedures .1 In addition, as mandated by the Ministerial Decision, the 
Committee on Rules of Origin agreed, at its meeting of 2 March 2 017, to a template for such 
notifications (G/RO/84).  
 
Following such requirements, the following notification has been received from : Chile. 
 
A. BASIC INFORMATION  
 
(1) Notifying member  Chile 
(2) Date  of entering into force of Rules of 
origin and any substantive 
modification thereof  Law No. 20.690 establishing the elimination of tariffs for goods  
originating  in least developed countries entered into force  on 
28 September 2 013. Supreme Decree No. 508 am ending 
Decree No. 1432, which establishe d the procedures for 
applying  the tariff benefits conferred under  Law No. 20.690 to 
goods  originating in least developed countries , entered into 
force on 2 9 June 2 017. 
Decre e No. 1432: 
https://www.leychile.cl/Navegar?idNorma=1059781  
Decre e No. 508: 
https://www.leychile.cl/Navegar?idNorma=1104622  
Law No. 20.690: 
https://www.leychile.cl/Navegar?idNorma=1054479  
(3) Date of expiration of Rules of origin if 
applicable  The tariff elimination scheme  established by the 
aforementioned legislation for goods originating in least 
developed countri es does not have a date of expiration . It is, 
however,  subject to the respecti ve country remaining a least 
developed country in acco rdance with the c lassification  
established by the United Nations  Organization . 
(4) Title of the preferential scheme for 
which legislation on Rules of origin is 
applicable  Law No. 20.690 , which  eliminat es import tariffs on goods  
originating  in least developed countries  (originating goods) . 
                                                
1 The relevant notification requirements are contained in Paragraph 2(d) of Annex 1 of the Transparency 
Mechanism for Preferential Trade Arrangements (WT/L/806) and in Paragraph 4 of Annex II of the Agreement 
on Rules of Origin.  G/RO/LDC/N/CHL/1  
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  (5) Authority(ies) granting the 
preferential treatment  National Customs Service : 
http://www.aduana.cl/ley -20-690-eliminacion -aranceles -
pma/aduana/2014 -03-07/092144.html  
(6) National authorities in charge of Rules 
of origin administration  Bernardita Palacios  
bpalacios@aduana.cl  
Head of the Department of Classification and Origin  
National Customs Service  
Tel.: (56-32) 2134505  
http://www.aduana.cl/ley -20-690-eliminacion -aranceles -
pma/aduana/2014 -03-07/092144.html  
 
B. INFORMATION ON RULES OF ORIGIN  
I. BENEFICIARIES  
(1)  List of Beneficiaries  The beneficiaries are specified in Decre e No. 508 
(https://www.leychile.cl/Navegar?idNorma=1104622 ), 
amend ing Article 1 of Decree No. 1432, which establishes  the 
list of beneficiary countries:  
"Article 1: The countries that shall be considered to be least 
develope d countries are those in the list of countries classified 
as such by the United Nations Organization and for the 
purposes of this decree are the following:  
(a)  in Africa: Angola ; Benin; Burkina Faso ; Burundi ; Central 
African Republic ; Chad; Comoros; Democ ratic Republic of 
the Congo ; Djibouti ; Equatorial  Guinea ; Eritrea ; Ethiopia ; 
Gambia ; Guinea ; Guinea -Bissau ; Lesotho; Liberia ; 
Madagascar ; Malawi; Mali; Mauritania ; Mozambique ; 
Niger; Rwanda; Sao Tomé and Principe ; Senegal ; 
Sierra Leone; Somalia ; South Suda n; Sudan; Togo; 
Uganda ; Tanzania and Zambia;  
(b)  in Asia and the Pacific : Afghanista n; Bangladesh ; Bhutan; 
Cambo dia; Kiribati ; Lao People's Democratic Republic ; 
Myanmar ; Nepal; Solomon Islands ; Timor-Leste ; Tuvalu ; 
Vanuatu and Yemen;  
(c)  in Latin America n and the Caribbean : Haiti". 
(2)  Eligibility  The countries benefitting from the duty -free quota -free 
(DFQF) scheme  are determined on the basis of the U nited 
Nations' list of LDCs . The Chilean Ministry of Finance update d, 
by means of Decree No. 508, the list of beneficiary countries 
three years after the entry into force of Law  No. 20.690, in 
accordance with Article 2 of Decree No. 1432.  
A good will only be eligible for preferential tariff treatment 
under the DFQF scheme if it can be considered to originat e in 
a beneficiary country by satisfying the rules of origin 
requirements.  
In this regard , Article 4 establishes  that goods from least 
developed countries must be originating goods, and that a 
good is considered as originating from a least developed 
countr y when it meets all the other applicable requirements 
under this Decree and also fulfils at least one of the following 
requirements : 
(a)  the good is wholly obtained or produced entirely in the 
territory of a least developed country;  
(b)  the good is produ ced entirely in the territory of a least 
developed country exclusively from originating materials ; 
or G/RO/LDC/N/CHL/1  
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    (c)  the good is produced in the territory of a least developed 
country using non -originating materials having a regional 
value content of not less tha n 50% or a change in tariff 
heading as defined in Articles 5 and 6  of Decree 
No. 1432, respectively.  
  Article 10 of Decree No. 1432 and the sole Article of Decree 
No. 508 also establish that goods shall not lose their 
originating character provided they are not subject to any 
process or other operation outside the territory of the least 
developed country other than unloading, reloading, splitting or 
any other operation required to maintain the good in good 
condition or to transport it to Chile and provide d the good 
remains under the control of the customs authority of a third 
territory.  
Fulfilment of the conditions set out in the previous paragraph 
may be demonstrated through presentation to the 
National Customs Service of:  
(a)  a single transport document  covering the passage of the 
good from the exporting country through the transit 
country ; or 
(b)  a certificate issued by the customs authorities of the 
transit country containing:  
 (i) an exact description of the products,  
 (ii)  the dates of unloading an d reloading of the products 
and, where applicable, the names of the ships or 
other means of transport used, and  
 (iii)  the certification of the conditions under which the 
goods remained in the country of transit ; or 
(c) failing the above, any other docume ntary evidence that 
enables the National Customs Service to conclude that 
the goods did not lose their originating character  during 
transit t hrough  a third country.  
 
II. CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING SUBSTANTIAL TRANSFORMATION  
(1) General criteria, if applica ble for all products  
 (a) Definition of wholly obtained 
products  Article 4 of Decree No. 1432 states that , in order to qualify for 
the benefit established by Law No. 20.690, goods from least 
developed countries must be originating goods . A good is 
conside red as originating from a least developed country when 
it meets all the other applicable requirements under this 
decree and also fulfils at least one of the following 
requirements:  
(a) the good is wholly obtained or produced entirely in the 
territory of a least developed country;  
(b) the good is produced entirely in the territory of a least 
developed country exclusively from originating materials ; 
or 
(c) the good is produced in the territory of a least developed 
country using non -originating materials havin g a regional 
value content of not less than 50% or a change in tariff 
heading as defined in Articles 5 and 6, respectively.  
 (b) Describe the criteria for 
not-wholly produced products  For a good to be classed as originating from a least developed 
country,  in accordance with  Article 4(c) of Decree No. 1432, it 
must be  produced in the territory of a least developed country 
using non -originating materials having  a regional value 
content of not  less than 50% or a change in tariff heading as 
defined in Articles  5 and 6, respectively.  G/RO/LDC/N/CHL/1  
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    Article 5 of the Decree establishes  that the regional value 
content of a good shall be calculated as follows:  
V - VNM 
RVC = ----------------  x 100  
V 
where:  
RVC is the regional value content of a good expressed as a 
percentage;  
V is the FOB value of the final good ; and 
VNM is the CIF value of non -originating materials.  
Article 6 of Decree No. 1432 specifies that there is a change in 
tariff heading when the final good is classified under a 
Harmonized System (HS) heading which is diff erent from the 
headings under which the non -originating materials used in 
the production process of the final good are classified, in 
accordance with Article 4(c) of the Decree.  
 (c) Insert the formula for 
calculating ad valorem  
percentage  Article 5 of th e Decree establishes  that the regional value 
content of a good shall be calculated as follows : 
V - VNM 
RVC =----------------  x 100  
V 
where : 
RVC is the regional value content of a good expressed as a 
percentage;  
V is the FOB value of the final good ; and 
VNM is the CIF value of non -originating materials.  
(2) Product specific rules of origin, where applicable  
 (a) Insert the link where the 
complete list of product 
specific rules of origin can be 
found.  Not applicable  
 (b) Insert the formula for 
calculating ad valorem  
percentage, when applied for 
product specific rule  Not applicable  
(3) Definition of non -originating 
material and originating material, 
if any  As indicated above , for a good to be classed as originating 
from a least developed country, in accorda nce with Article 4(c) 
of Decree No. 1432, it must be produced in the territory of a 
least developed country using non -originating materials 
having a regional value content of not less than 50% or a 
change in tariff heading as defined in Articles 5 and 6, 
respectively.  
(4) List of insufficient working 
process, if any  Article 7 of Decree No. 1432 states that, "Goods obtained from 
processes or operations through which they only acquire the 
final form in which they will be marketed shall not be 
considered orig inating from a least developed country when 
the above processes use materials from other countries and 
simply involve assembly, packaging, splitting into lots, pieces 
or volumes, selection and classification, marking, the putting 
together of assortments of  goods or other similar operations".  
(5) Rules for application of cumulation 
and related procedures if any  The scheme does not provide for  cumulation.  
(6) Any other information that Member 
deems necessary  https://www.aduana.cl/ley -20-690-eliminacion -aranceles -
pma/aduana/2014 -03-07/092144.html  
 G/RO/LDC/N/CHL/1  
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  III. DOCUMENTARY REQUIREMENTS  
(1) Certificate of origin and other proofs of origin  
 (a)  Requirement for cert ificate of 
origin and/or any other proof 
of origin, if any  Article  11 of Decree No. 1432 indicates that  "For the 
originating goods to qualify for the preferential tariff 
treatment, importers shall submit a certificate of origin to the 
National Customs Serv ice, containing at the very least the 
information specified in the Annex to this Decree ". 
The Annex to the aforementioned Decree can be found at:  
https://www.leychile.cl/Navegar?idNorma=1059781 . 
 (b) Authority to be designated for 
issuance of certificate of 
origin  Article  11 also establishes that : "This certificate of origin may 
be issued by:  
(a)  the competent authority  of the exporting country 
designated in accordance with Article 14 ; or 
(b)  the producer or exporter of the goods . If the exporter is 
not the producer of the goods, the exporter may certify 
the origin of the goods on the basis of:  
 (i)  its knowledge of whether the goods qualify  as 
originating goods ; or 
 (ii)  a written declarati on from the producer stating that 
the goods are originating goods ; or 
 (iii)  a certificate covering  the goods, completed and 
signed by the producer and provided voluntarily to 
the exporter ; or 
(c)  the importer of the goods, who may only issue a 
certifica te of origin on the basis of:  
 (i)  a written declaration fr om the producer or exporter 
stating that the goods are originating goods ; or 
 (ii)  any other documentation or background information 
demonstrat ing that the goods originate from the 
exporting coun try, such as certificates issued by a 
public entity  in the exporting country , or shipment 
certificates or reports issue d in the exporting country 
by an independent certification company  or surveyor, 
which must be consistent with other clearance  
documents a nd the circumstances of the operation ". 
 (c) Prescribed form of Certificate 
of origin and/or any other 
proof of origin  https://ww w.aduana.cl/aduana/site/artic/20130417/asocfile/2
0130417103419/co_eliminaci__n_aranceles_pma_2014.pdf  
 (d) Any other procedures applied 
for certificate of origin and/or 
any other proof of origin, if 
any Not applicable  
(2) Direct shipment  
 (a) Rules app licable for direct 
shipment, if any  The first subparagraph of Article 10 of Decree No. 1432 
establishes that  "Goods shall not lose their originating 
character provided they are not subject to any process or 
other operation outside the territory of the leas t developed 
country other than unloading, reloading, splitting or any other 
operation required to maintain the good in good condition or 
to transport it to Chile and provided the good remains under 
the control of the customs authority of a third territory ". G/RO/LDC/N/CHL/1  
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   (b) Documentary requirement for 
proof of direct shipment 
including when the transport 
of consignment involves 
transit through one or more 
intermediate countries, if any  "Fulfilment of the conditions set out in the previous paragraph 
may be demonstrated  through presentation to the National 
Customs Service of:  
(a) a single transport document covering the passage of the 
good from the exporting country through the transit 
country ; or 
(b) a certificate issued by the customs authorities of the 
transit country  containing:  
   (i) an exact description of the products,  
 (ii) the dates of unloading and reloading of the products 
and, where applicable, the names of the ships or 
other means of transport used, and  
 (iii)  the certification of the conditions under whic h the 
goods remained in the country of transit ; or 
(c) failing the above, any other documentary evidence that 
enables the National Customs Service to conclude that 
the goods did not lose their originating character  during 
transit through a third country ". 
 
IV. VERIFICATION AND PENALTIES  
(1)  Procedure for verification of proofs 
of origin  Article 13 of Decree No. 1432 states the following : "For the 
purpose of a verification of origin procedure carried out by the 
National Customs Service, the importer shall conserve a copy 
of the certificate of origin and the substantiating documents 
on which it was based for a period of five years from the date 
of issue of the certificate.  The National Customs Service, in 
accordance with  Decree having Force of Law No. 30/200 4 on 
the Customs Ordinance and other provisions contained in 
domestic legislation , shall verify whether a good imported 
from a least developed country qualifies as originating" . 
Decree having Force of Law No. 30/2004 on the Customs 
Ordinance  available at:  
https://www.leychile.cl/Navegar?idNorma=238919  
(2)  Penalties for fraud and false 
declarations  Fraud and false declarations involving certificates of origin 
(for imports)  fall under  the categor y of customs violations and 
offences (customs fraud) in general . No special penalty is 
handed down for such acts.  
(3) Authorities and procedures for 
appeal in the case of dispute on 
verification  Chilean legislation provides for two procedures for the 
settlement of disputes : 
(a) Administrative complaints , which fall within  the remit of 
the Tax and Customs Courts (judicial procedure ). 
(b) Appeals for administrative review, which are filed with 
the National Customs Service.  
(4) Requirement for preserving th e 
documents related to issuance of 
certificate of origin  The first paragraph of Article  13 of Decree No. 1432 indicates 
the following : "For the purpose of a verification of origin 
procedure carried out by the National Customs Service, the 
importer shall co nserve a copy of the certificate of origin and 
the substantiating documents on which it was based for a 
period of five years from the date of issue of the certificate".  
(5) Any other relevant information  Not applicable  G/RO/LDC/N/CHL/1  
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  V. REFERENCE TEXTS  
(a) The legislat ive texts in one of the 
official WTO languages containing 
the preferential rules of origin 
applicable under a PTA granted 
under the Decision on Measures in 
Favour of Least -Developed 
Countries (Annex F of the Hong 
Kong Ministerial Declaration)  The Chilean l egislative text containing the preferential rules of 
origin for LDCs is Law  No. 20.690, which is available at : 
https://www.leychile.cl/Navegar?idNorma=1054479 , as 
indicated  in the first part (A.2) of the notification document . 
It can also be found in the WTO Database on Preferential 
Trade Arrangements at: http://ptadb.wto.org . 
(b) The full text of the administrative 
regulations concerning modalities 
for issu ance, acceptance, 
retrospective issuance and 
replacement of certificates of 
origin or any equivalent 
declarations to be made, including 
any requirements related to 
stamps to be used along with 
notification of stamps  Decree No. 1432, "Establishing the list of least developed 
countries, the conditions for their inclusion  and exclusion , and 
the operational requirements to be met by goods for the 
purposes  indicated ". Text available at:  
https://www.le ychile.cl/Navegar?idNorma=1059781 . The text 
can also be found in the WTO Database on Preferential Trade 
Arrangements . 
This Decree was amended in June 2 017, and the updated 
version  can be accessed through  the above "Leychile" link.  
The Decree, in particula r Section B thereof (operational 
procedures) and the Annex thereto, contains information on 
the submission of certificates, their content, who can issue a 
certificate , and other requirements . 
Article 11(b)(ii) of the Decree refers to "any other 
documentati on or background information demonstrat ing that 
the goods originate from the exporting country, such as 
certificates issued by a public entity  in the exporting country , 
or shipment certificates or reports issued in the exporting 
country by an independent certification company  or surveyor, 
which must be consistent with other clearance documents and 
the circumstances of the operation" . There are no other rules 
or regulations that expand on this  matter.  
 
(c) The full text and related 
administrative regulation s of the 
modalities for the proof of 
movement of the consignment of 
the goods from the beneficiary 
countries to preference -giving 
countries including transit through 
third countries  Regarding this point, Chilean legislation only refers to proof of 
shipment  (specifically with reference to goods from LDCs) in 
Article 10 of Decree No. 1432:  
"Goods shall not lose their originating character provided they 
are not subject to any process or other operation outside the 
territory of the least developed country other  than unloading, 
reloading, splitting or any other operation required to 
maintain the good in good condition or to transport it to Chile 
and provided the good remains under the control of the 
customs authority of a third territory.  
Fulfilment of the condit ions set out in the previous paragraph 
may be demonstrated through presentation to the National 
Customs Service of:  
(a)  a single transport document covering the passage of the 
good from the exporting country through the transit 
country ; or 
(b)  a certific ate issued by the customs authorities of the 
transit country containing:  
 (i) an exact description of the products,  
 (ii)  the dates of unloading and reloading of the products 
and, where applicable, the names of the ships or 
other means of transport used, and 
 (iii)  the certification of the conditions under which the 
goods remained in the country of transit ; or 
(c)  failing the above, any other documentary evidenc e that 
enables the National Customs Service to conclude that 
the goods did not lose their orig inating character during 
transit through a third country.  G/RO/LDC/N/CHL/1  
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  (d) The full texts of the modalities of 
the verification procedures and 
related penalties  Regarding verification procedures , Article 13 of Decree 
No. 1432 states that : ""For the purpose of a verifi cation of 
origin procedure carried out by the National Customs Service, 
the importer shall conserve a copy of the certificate of origin 
and the substantiating documents on which it was based for a 
period of five years from the date of issue of the certific ate. 
  The National Customs Service, in accordance with Decree 
having Force of Law No. 30/2004 on the Customs Ordinance 
and other provisions contained in domestic legislation , shall 
verify whether a good imported from a least developed 
country qualifies a s originating  in order to qualify  for the 
benefit provided in Law No. 20.690 ". 
The u pdated version of the Customs Ordinance is available at : 
https://www.leychile.cl/Navegar?idNorma=238919 . 
 
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