Chile — agent-bev Library

Market status

Licensed. Private operators can trade alcoholic beverages through a registration, product-registration, sanitary and municipal alcohol-licence framework. The Servicio Agrícola y Ganadero (SAG) registers operators and alcoholic beverages under the alcohols law. Establishments that sell, provide, distribute or keep alcoholic beverages are subject to the alcohol-patent and inspection system under the municipal licensing model described below.

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Who can trade

Import: A natural or legal person importing alcoholic beverages needs Chilean tax start-of-activities status with the Servicio de Impuestos Internos (SII), a Chilean tax identification number, SAG start-of-activities communication as an alcohol importer, and SAG registration of each alcoholic beverage to be imported. On entry, SAG samples and analyses the consignment, retains it until the result is notified, and classifies it as fit or not fit for import. Imported food also follows the sanitary import route: a Customs Destination Certificate (CDA) allows transfer from customs premises to an authorised warehouse, and a favourable Use and Disposal decision is needed before sale or distribution.

Wholesale and distribution: Anyone producing, bottling, commercialising, importing or exporting ethyl alcohol and alcoholic beverages must first communicate start of activities to SAG and enter the register of producers, bottlers, traders, importers and exporters. Alcoholic beverages produced, elaborated, exported or imported must be entered in the SAG National Register of Alcoholic Beverages. Food premises used for production, packaging, storage, distribution or sale require health-authority authorisation. Alcohol-law premises categories include wine, liquor or beer producing or distributing warehouses selling wholesale, importing houses selling imported wine or liquor wholesale, and winery or liquor-industry agencies. Wholesale is defined by statutory minimum quantities.

Business-to-business (B2B) online sale: The online ordering channel was not sourced as a separate authorisation category. The operator still has to satisfy the underlying SAG, sanitary, customs and municipal alcohol-patent requirements for its activity and premises. Specific business-to-business online platform/intermediary treatment: Not yet sourced.

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Customs and duty

Tariff headings: Beer: 2203. Beer made from malt. Wine: 2204. Wine of fresh grapes, including fortified wine; certain grape must. Cider: 2206. Other fermented beverages, including cider, perry, mead and sake, and qualifying mixtures. Spirits: 2208. Undenatured ethyl alcohol below the relevant high-strength threshold; spirits, liqueurs and other spirituous beverages.

Import duty: Chile uses the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS) as the basis for classification. Use the Servicio Nacional de Aduanas current customs tariff at the full national code level, with customs valuation, origin and any preferential trade agreement treatment. The Subsecretaría de Relaciones Económicas Internacionales (SUBREI) tariff-search tool transcribes preferences from Chile’s trade-agreement schedules, but the official agreements and customs information prevail in case of discrepancy. Exact payable tariff for a specified product and origin: Not yet sourced.

Excise: The SII describes an additional tax on sales and imports of alcoholic beverages, applied on the same taxable base as Value Added Tax (VAT). The alcohol categories include liqueurs, pisco, whisky, aguardiente and distilled beverages, including certain liqueur or aromatised wines; and wines for consumption, including sparkling and gasified wines, generosos or asoleados, chicha, cider, beer and other alcoholic beverages. The treatment depends on the product category and whether the product is destined for consumption.

Territorial treatment: Chile has free zones authorised for Iquique and Punta Arenas. A free zone is legally defined as a delimited area near a port or airport with a customs extraterritoriality presumption, where foreign goods may be deposited, transformed, finished or commercialised under the free-zone rules. Movements from free zones or extension zones to the rest of the country require the applicable customs treatment for that movement.

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Labelling

Required language(s): Mandatory food-label information must be in Spanish and may also be repeated in another language. Missing, non-Spanish or non-compliant mandatory information on imported products must be supplied by a permanent supplementary label.

Mandatory warnings: Beverages with alcoholic strength of at least 0.5° intended for commercialisation in Chile must carry a clear, visible and legible warning about harmful consumption. The rules in force from 7 July 2024 require the prescribed graphic warning with driving, pregnancy and under-18 symbols, and warning information must remain visible at points of sale. The producer or manufacturer is responsible for domestic products and the importer for imported beverages before commercialisation. Energy value in kilocalories must also be indicated.

Alcohol strength and basic particulars: Consumer products must generally be sold in sealed, labelled containers unless an authorised establishment may sell otherwise. Labels must state the denomination or nature of the product, alcoholic strength, volume, and packer name and address. Imported products must also state the country of origin and the importer’s name and address.

Allergens: Where the food allergen rule applies, officially listed allergens must be declared in the ingredient list with at least the same letter size as other ingredients, or under a “contains” or similar statement. The official allergen list includes cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanut, soya, milk, nuts and sulphite at the stated threshold.

Origin and wine particulars: Alcohol labels must not mislead as to origin, raw material, nature, composition or characteristics. Imported alcohol must state origin. Wine geographical indications, viticultural zones, grape variety, harvest year and similar particulars are available only under the wine-zoning and denomination rules, including the conditions for the stated area or special denomination.

Label/product registration: SAG product registration is required for alcoholic beverages produced, elaborated, exported or imported, and importers must register the products and comply with the alcohol-labelling rules. Separate pre-market label approval process: Not yet sourced.

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Age and sale limits

Legal purchase age: 18. It is prohibited to sell, give, offer compensation for, or supply alcoholic beverages in the listed alcohol establishments to a person under 18. Staff serving those establishments must require an official identity document from persons seeking to acquire alcoholic beverages. Minors under 18 may not enter cabarets, cantinas, bars, taverns, or discotheques where alcoholic beverages are sold.

Sale-hour and channel limits: Off-premise alcohol establishments may operate from 09:00 to 01:00, with the statutory later close on Saturday and holiday mornings. Wholesale producing or distributing warehouses for wine, liquor or beer operate from 10:00 to 22:00. On-premise establishments operate from 10:00 to 04:00; discotheques from 19:00 to 04:00, with the statutory later close on Saturday and holiday mornings. The restriction does not apply on 1 January or Fiestas Patrias days.

Regional and local layers: Municipalities may set differentiated hours by ordinance within the statutory margins and determine zones for specified alcohol premises. The President may temporarily restrict alcohol sale in a locality or commune for serious public-order reasons. Professional football security measures can impose local sale or delivery bans around the venue. Complete commune-by-commune alcohol ordinance variations: Not yet sourced.

Sources

https://www.bcn.cl/leychile/navegar?idNorma=220208

Protected names

Protection framework: Chile protects indications of source through the general geographical indication and denomination of origin system administered by the Instituto Nacional de Propiedad Industrial (INAPI), and through special wine and spirits rules under the alcohols law and its decrees. The alcohols law allows wine and distilled-product denominations of origin by supreme decree and prohibits use of established denominations for non-qualifying products. Protected foreign geographical indications, denominations of origin, traditional expressions and quality terms recognised in ratified treaties may be used only under those treaties.

Wine names: The wine-zoning decree establishes viticultural regions, subregions, zones and areas as denominations of origin for wine. Verified examples include Valle de Casablanca, Valle del Maipo and the special denomination Secano Interior. These examples are not exhaustive.

Spirit names: Pisco is a protected denomination of origin for the qualifying grape spirit, with a specific pisco regulation. The law also protects Pajarete and Vino Asoleado for qualifying fortified wines.

Beer and cider names: Named beer and cider protected names: Not yet sourced.

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GTIN authority

Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) member organisation: GS1 Chile. GS1 Chile states that the GTIN identifies products and that GS1 Chile assigns the company prefix and product codes for Chile.

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Not yet sourced

Specific business-to-business online platform/intermediary treatment; exact payable tariff for a specified product and origin; separate pre-market label approval process; complete commune-by-commune alcohol ordinance variations; named beer and cider protected names: Not yet sourced.