Company: SQM
Filing Date: 2025-04-24
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0000909037-25-000020
Chunk: 27

Company: CHEMICAL & MINING CO OF CHILE INC
Filing Date: 2025-04-24
Form: 20-F
Item: Item 3
Chunk 27
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 Labor Organization (“ILO”), has ratified the ILO’s Convention 169 (the “Indigenous Peoples Convention”) concerning indigenous and tribal people. The Indigenous Peoples Convention established several rights for indigenous people and communities. Among other rights, the Indigenous Peoples Convention states that (i) indigenous groups should be notified and consulted prior to the development of any project on land deemed indigenous, although veto rights are not mentioned, and (ii) indigenous groups have, to the extent possible, a stake in benefits resulting from the exploitation of natural resources in indigenous land. The extent of these benefits has not been defined by the Chilean government. The Chilean government has addressed item (i) above through Supreme Decree No. 66, issued by the Social Development Ministry. This decree requires government entities to consult indigenous groups that may be directly 
affected by the adoption of legislative or administrative measures, and it also defines criteria for the projects or activities that must be reviewed through the environmental evaluation system that also require such consultation. To the extent that the new rights outlined in the Indigenous Peoples Convention become laws or regulations in Chile, judicial interpretations of the convention of those laws or regulations could affect the development of our investment projects in lands that have been defined as indigenous, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. The Chilean Supreme Court has consistently held that consultation processes must be carried out in the manner prescribed by the Indigenous Peoples Convention.
The consultation process may cause delays in obtaining regulatory approvals, including environmental permits, as well as public opposition by local and/or international political, environmental and ethnic groups, particularly in environmentally sensitive areas or in areas inhabited by indigenous populations. Furthermore, the omission of the consultation process when required by law may result in the revocation or annulment of regulatory approvals, including environmental permits already granted.
Consequently, operating projects may be affected since the omission of the consultation process, when required by law, could lead to public law annulment actions pursuing the annulment of the environmental permits granted.
However, this risk frequently arises during the environmental assessment phase when the environmental permits are to be obtained. In such scenario, affected parties may take several legal actions to declare null or void the environmental permits that omitted the consultation process, and in some cases, courts have overturned environmental approvals in which consultation was not made as prescribed in the Indigenous Peoples Convention.
If the Indigenous Peoples Convention affects our development plans, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our operations and projects are subject to