Chile

According to Law Nr. 18.410, Article 60 of Law Nr. 18.681 and the Supreme Decree Nr. 399/85 from the Chilean Ministry of Finance, Development and Reconstruction (Ministerio de Economía, Fomento y Reconstrucción), including its amendments, all electrical components are subject to mandatory certification before they are marketed or used, and must necessarily be submitted to a compliance assessment for minimum security requirements, in accordance with some standards and technical specifications.

1. Products subject to Certification

Certifications on electrical components subject of mandatory certification are performed by official bodies known as Certification Organizations. These bodies do not report to SEC (Superintendencia de Electricidad y Combustibles) but SEC handles the according assessments and authorizes the certification whenever a product complies with the established set of standards and technical specifications, and meets the minimum quality requirements that help to reduce possible risk to people and products.

Chile's SEC is responsible for selecting and analyzing the products that will be submitted to the local mandatory certification process, and approves or develops the technical protocols to enable the according certification. Generally, these protocols are adjusted versions of international standards – mainly IEC standards – which are defined and adapted by SEC to local requirements.

However, in Chile, not all electrical components are subject to mandatory certification. To determine if a product must be certified, SEC analyzes a number of technical and social criteria and then reports to the Ministry of Finance, Development and Reconstruction the products that will be subject of mandatory certification. Basically, the products have to match the following requirements:

Products must be object of mass-consumption and be sold in marketplace;
Product use is potentially hazardous;

Product is purchased by non-technical consumers;
Product offers a potential environment-damaging risk.

Furthermore, other factors will be taken into consideration to define which products require a mandatory certification, as, for example, commercial factors, based on the expertise and knowledge of the authorities or system users.

To market a mandatory-certified product in Chile, the importer or local manufacturer has to submit a Certification Request to any of the SEC-authorized Certification Organizations. Once certified, the product will be marked according to the matching standards and/or technical specifications.

2. Certification Models or Systems

The certification models include a set of steps that will determine if a product complies with the required standards, including the necessary tests and inspections that will assess the product quality. Below are some of the tests performed by the electrical components industry in Chile.

Type Testing: A series of tests are conducted, based on randomly selected product samples, using specific methods to analyze if the product meets the product requirements and complies with the according standards and technical specifications.

Manufacturing control:   Inspections made on finished product samples on the plant help ensure product compliance with Type Tests conducted before the manufacturing process is started.

Batch-Testing: A Certification System where a sample of products is selected from a production lot, and is tested for conformance to the standard. Each batch will target a specific conformance assessment, according to a given specification.

The Certification of Approval on electrical components, supplied by a Certification Organization, will necessarily have to go through one of the certification models chosen by the manufacturers or the importers.

One of the three certification models in use is known as System A, and includes “Type-testing” and “Manufacturing Control”. This certification has no expiring date.

The second model is called System B, and it requires Batch-testing only. This certification expires as soon as there are no more products from this lot available on the market.

The third model, known as the Type System, requires Type-Testing only. To prevent this Certification from expiring, the manufacturer or importer has to issue a notarized statement every month, or whenever a new lot of products are manufactured, confirming that the products maintain their original features.

3. Certification Process and Submittal of Certification Approval.

The electrical component certification process begins when the interested party submits a Certification Request to the Certification Organization. A product sample must be delivered with the request, for a System A or to Type-Testing submittal, or a product-batch must be delivered with the request for a System B certification submittal.

The Certification Organization will perform the necessary inspections, according to the protocols and the selected certification method. After all inspections have been performed, the Certification Organization will issue a “Test Report” on the results.

If the product complies with the requested conformity requirements, the Certification Organization will issue a Certification of Approval, and send a copy of this Certification to SEC, within five workdays after the Certification of Approval, the Test Report and the Approval Request have been issued.

Should the product not successfully go through the testing, proving its non-compliance with the according methods, the Certification will be rejected and the Certification Organization will issue a Rejection Report, and send a copy to SEC within five workdays after it has been issued. This report must include a copy of the Testing Report and the Approval Request.

Finally, it is important to note that after receiving the Approval Request, the Certification Organization will have to issue the Approval Certification or Rejection Report within a timeframe of 90 days.

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