Decree N° 50/2015, issued by the Ministry of Public Works, has been enacted. This act approves the Regulation that sets the technical conditions to be fulfilled during the design, construction and operation stages of hydraulic works, as defined in Article 294 of the Water Code.Through this Decree, the Ministry of Public Works has set the text for the Regulation of Large Public Hydraulic Works, which had been pending enactment since 1981 ...
On January 1, 2016 Law No. 20,848 which sets forth a new legal framework for foreign direct investment in Chile (the “New Law”) was enacted. The New Law also regulates the effects of contracts entered into during the term of Decree Law No. 600 of 1974 (“DL 600”), in order to guarantee the full validity of the rights and duties acquired by foreign investors under said legal regime ...
Executive Summary On February 5th, 2016, Law N° 20,897 was published in the Official Gazette incorporating 3 new paragraphs into article 34 bis of the Electric Power Services General Law (“LGSE”). By virtue of this modification, article 34 bis of the LGSE, widens its protection to any developer of non conventional renewable energy projects (“NCRE”). This article was originally intended exclusively for electric concessionaires ...
On January 4th, 2016, the President of the Republic introduced a series of amendments to the bill of law that, “modifies the Health Code in order to regulate generic bioequivalent pharmaceutical products and prevent the vertical integration of pharmaceutical laboratories and pharmacies”, – Bill No. 9914-11- (“Pharmaceutical Bill II”) ...
On January 29th, 2016, the Supreme Court issued a ruling (hereinafter the “Ruling”), that changed the criteria regarding the requirements that trigger the entitlement to the statutory benefit known as “full week” (semana corrida) which applies to employees who are remunerated based on a fixed salary and a variable compensation. 1.- Criteria before the Ruling The full week benefit was originally applicable to employees remunerated exclusively on a daily basis or by piecework ...
On March 1st, 2016, Supreme Decree N° 62 of the Ministry of Economy, introduced in 2006 (hereinafter, the “Decree 62”), that regulates capacity transfers among power generation companies entered into force, modifying the methodology used to calculate transfers.IntroductionThe Chilean electric system remunerates power generation companies for two products: energy and capacity ...
Today, Wednesday, June 1st, the Framework Law for the Management of Waste, Extended Liability of the Producer and Promotion of Recycling No. 20,920 (the “Law”) was published.PurposeThe Law seeks to reduce the generation of waste and encourage its reuse, recycling and other types of recovery ...
Today, Wednesday, June 1st, the Framework Law for the Management of Waste, Extended Liability of the Producer and Promotion of Recycling No. 20,920 (the “Law”) was published.PurposeThe Law seeks to reduce the generation of waste and encourage its reuse, recycling and other types of recovery ...
The government recently announced that a bill will be submitted to Congress to modify the Chilean Data Privacy Law N° 19,628 (“DPL”). In connection with the future bill (yet to be presented before Congress), the Ministry of Finance sent to several members of Congress a set of informal minutes outlining the structure and core aspects of the bill.The following is a summary of the minutes, and an initial legal analysis prepared by Carey ...
The government recently announced that a bill will be submitted to Congress to modify the Chilean Data Privacy Law N° 19,628 (“DPL”). In connection with the future bill (yet to be presented before Congress), the Ministry of Finance sent to several members of Congress a set of informal minutes outlining the structure and core aspects of the bill.The following is a summary of the minutes, and an initial legal analysis prepared by Carey ...
Recently the “guideline for the supervision and regulation of the nutritional composition of foodstuff and its advertisement (“the guideline”) was published by the Undersecretary of Health.The guideline´s main objective is to, “guide the process of supervision and regulation of foodstuff”, taking into consideration the upcoming implementation of Decree No. 13 (June 27, 2016), which modifies the Health Regulations for Food Products ...
On June 8, discussion started in the Public Works Commission of the Senate over the law project which creates the state company, “Fondo de Infraestructura S.A.”. The Project shall be approved by a special quorum (quórum calificado) as indicated in article 19 No. 21 of the Political Constitution of the Republic of Chile ...
The Environmental Evaluation Service (SEIA) has published the “Guide for Determination of the Ecological Flow for Hydropower Plants”.The objective of the Guide is to establish uniform criteria for determining the environmental flow regime in hydropower plant projects that are evaluated by the SEIA. The Guide incorporates the use of hydrological criteria, valuation of ecosystem services and anthropic uses, while also taking into account the particular project’s specific characteristics ...
On June 23rd the United Kingdom (UK)1 decided, by means of a referendum, to exit from the European Union. This decision is known as “Brexit”. According to Art. 50 of the Treaty on European Union, the UK must notify the European Council – which for this purpose represents the EU – of its intention to exit, after which the parties will negotiate an agreement setting out the arrangements of that withdrawal and of the future relationship between the UK and the EU ...
On June 25th, 2016, Law No. 20,930 that establishes the environmental conservation right was published in the Official Gazzette. The purpose of this law is to create a mechanism to simplify and promote the participation of private parties in the conservation of the environment, as a complement to the work done by the State in these matters. This right has its origin in Comparative Law ...
On July 1st, 2016 the Pilot Patent Prosecution Highway agreement (PPH) executed by the member states of the Pacific Alliance (Chile, Mexico, Colombia and Peru1) came into force.The PPH Pilot Program is an agreement executed by the patent offices of said countries, which allows applicants to request an accelerated examination process of a patent application ...
TAXPAYER REGIME A REGIME B METHOD FOR EXERCISING THE OPTION Public Corporations, Closed Corporations and “Sociedad en Comandita por Acciones”. N/A Mandatory regime. N/A Individual Companies and Individual Limited Liability Companies. Applicable provided the owner of the company is: (i)an individual domiciled or resident in Chile; and/or (ii)an individual or entity domiciled or resident abroad (together as “Final Taxpayers) ...
On July 5, 2016 the Chilean Congress enacted Law No. 20,931 (“Anti-crime Agenda”), strengthening the prosecution of robbery, burglary, theft and willfully or negligently receiving or possessing stolen goods. The Chilean Criminal Code sanctions any individual who knowingly or negligently possesses, transports, buys, converts or trades goods proceeding from theft, robbery, embezzlement and/or cattle theft. Negligent behavior can also be prosecuted ...
On July the 27th 2016, Law No. 20.936 that establishes New Power Transmission Systems and creates an Independent Coordinating Body for the National Power System (the “Transmission Law” or “New Law”) was published. Its stated objectives are to ensure that transmission does not become an obstacle to power generation, increase competition in the electrical market and boost the development of non-conventional renewable energies ...
From August 30th of 2016, the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents, commonly known as the “Apostille Convention”, and which changes the legalization process of foreign public documents, will enter into force in Chile. This treaty was signed on October 5th, 1961, and on December 2015 Chile completed the procedures to ratify it. In order to enforce this convention in Chile, Law No ...
On September 8th, 2016, Law No. 20,940 was published. The law is aimed at the “Modernization of Labor Relations” (hereinafter the “Labor Reform” or the “Law”). The aim of the Labor Reform is to develop labor relations that are more modern, fair and balanced between the parties, and promote dialogue and agreement ...
The Law Decree No. 211 was amended on August 30th, 2016 by Law 20,945 (the “New Law“). The following are the main amendments: Amendments on collusionThe New Law amends the crime of collusion introducing the per se standard to punish hard core cartels, providing evidence of the existence of an agreement being sufficient, independently of the power of the parties in the market and the anti-competitive effects ...
Law No 20,590 (the “Law”), that authorizes the issuance and operation of pre-funded payment methods or any other similar system (the “Prepaid Cards”), by non-banking entities, when these systems involve that the issuer or the operator regularly engages in monetary obligations with the general public or to specific sectors or groups thereof, was published and came in force on October 29, 2016 ...