The Government of Chile requested the advisory services of UN Trade and Development on the sanctioning powers of consumer protection bodies in different countries around the world and their relationship with class actions for the protection of consumer rights.
The National Consumer Service of Chile (SERNAC) added a section related to alternative dispute resolution mechanisms on who should assume the costs of their financing and whether there is any risk or inconvenience in the event that these are assumed by the supplier itself.
This request is part of the Chilean legislative process, in particular the bill introduced by the President of the Republic and currently before the National Congress, which aims to provide SERNAC with the power to sanction providers that violate the law in individual cases, when they do not provide solutions to consumers.
In 2021, Chile underwent the UNCTAD Voluntary Peer Review of Consumer Protection Law and Policy.
The review recommended, among others, improvements in the legislative framework regarding the cross-cutting application of consumer law to all sectors, the regulation of product safety and e-commerce, and the expansion of mechanisms for the distribution of compensation, indemnities and reparations awarded under the special procedure in defence of the collective and diffuse interests of consumers.
The review also recommended strengthening the area of individual dispute resolution by boosting the deployment of consumer arbitration and mediation and introducing online dispute resolution mechanisms.
This advisory opinion has four sections.
- The first introduces the topics of the sanctioning power in consumer protection bodies, collective actions in consumer rights protection and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms based on the United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection.
- The second section provides an analysis of national consumer protection laws from Argentina, Brazil, the United States, Spain, France, and Mexico, representative of different models that include provisions related to administrative sanctioning powers and class actions.
- The third section presents considerations on the principles and models for the financing and sustainability of alternative consumer dispute resolution mechanisms, and the participation of the private sector.
- The fourth and final section proposes recommendations to inform SERNAC and the Chilean legislative process.
The study is part of the project ‘Advancing Consumer Information and Consumer Protection in Alignment with Multilateral Environmental Agreements’, a synergistic partnership between the United Nations Environment Programme and UN Trade and Development.
