Chile has no food registry and a near-zero tariff, but every shipment needs two health authorisations, animal and plant products need SAG approval, and labels carry the black octagons. Here is how it works, with a worked example and the Paraguayan beef route.
Chile is unusual in the region: it has no general product registration for food. There is no equivalent of Brazil’s ANVISA registration or Argentina’s RNPA number to obtain before you ship. Instead, control happens at each import. Every consignment of food — including raw materials and additives — needs two authorisations from the regional health authority (SEREMI de Salud): a customs destination certificate (CDA) to move the goods from the port to an authorised warehouse, and an authorisation of use and disposal (uso y disposición, UyD) before anything can be sold.
Products of animal and plant origin also pass through the Agriculture and Livestock Service (SAG), which approves foreign plants, sets zoosanitary and phytosanitary conditions and inspects at the border. Fish and seafood involve SERNAPESCA. On the tax side food is simple — 6% duty or zero under an agreement, plus 19% VAT — but labels must meet Chile’s strict front-of-pack law with its black “ALTO EN” octagons.
This guide covers the food-specific layer. For the general tax stack, the broker rule and how a foreign seller reaches Chilean buyers, see our Chile customs guide.
Food falls in HS chapters 02–24 and pays Chile’s uniform 6% ad valorem duty on the CIF value. Chile’s trade agreements cover nearly all major food suppliers — Mercosur, the US, the EU, China, Canada, Mexico and others — so in practice most food enters at 0% with proof of origin.
Meat, dairy, fruit, processed food
6% or 0% under an agreement; no peaks.
Wheat and wheat flour
Subject to Chile’s price-band system: the Finance Ministry sets specific duties or rebates by decree for set periods.
Used goods surcharge
Not relevant for food.
Trade remedies
Anti-dumping and safeguard measures are rare in Chile and mostly concern steel; check the Comisión Antidistorsiones list with your broker for your line.
Law and practice: Exempt Decree 397 of the Ministry of Finance (Diario Oficial, 16 December 2025), price-band rebates for wheat and flour under Law 18.525.
| Charge | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Customs duty | 6% on CIF; 0% under a trade agreement with proof of origin | Most food suppliers to Chile have an agreement |
| Wheat and wheat flour | Price-band system: specific duties or rebates set by decree | Rebates of US$78.86/t (wheat) and US$123.03/t (flour) applied December 2025–February 2026 |
| VAT (IVA) | 19% on CIF + duty | Recoverable for VAT-registered importers |
| Non-alcoholic drinks (IABA) | 10%; 18% if high in sugar | Soft drinks, flavoured waters, energy drinks, syrups |
| Alcoholic drinks | 20.5% or 31.5% | See our separate alcohol guide |
Solid food carries no excise in Chile. Non-alcoholic beverages are the exception: the additional tax on non-alcoholic drinks (IABA) is 10%, rising to 18% for drinks high in sugar — above 15 g per 240 ml. It is calculated, like VAT, on CIF plus duty and is collected by customs at import. Alcoholic drinks pay the separate ILA tax, covered in our alcohol guide.
Law and practice: Decree-Law 825, Article 42 (as amended by Law 20.780): 10% and 18% on non-alcoholic beverages; high-sugar threshold under Law 20.606.
| CIF US$100,000 | Packaged food, non-agreement origin | Paraguayan beef (ACE 35) | Sugary soft drink, agreement origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duty | 6,000 | 0 | 0 |
| IABA (18%) | – | – | 18,000 |
| VAT 19% | 20,140 | 19,000 | 19,000 |
| Total at clearance | 26,140 | 19,000 | 37,000 |
| Pure cost for a VAT-registered importer | 6,000 | 0 | 18,000 |
For a VAT-registered importer, the duty is the only real customs cost on food, and it disappears with a valid certificate of origin. On a sugary drink, the 18% IABA is a real cost passed on to the consumer. The bigger costs in food are elsewhere: cold-chain storage while the SEREMI decides, inspection and sampling fees, and relabelling.
Food import control sits with the regional health authority (Secretaría Regional Ministerial de Salud) under the Sanitary Code and the Reglamento Sanitario de los Alimentos (Food Sanitary Regulation, DS 977/96). The importer — a person or company with a Chilean tax number and registered activities — files both steps online through the SEREMI en Línea platform.
Step 1: CDA
Certificado de Destinación Aduanera. Filed with the SEREMI of the port of entry; lets the goods leave customs for a warehouse authorised by the SEREMI. It does not allow sale. Documents: signed declaration, transport document, invoice, packing list and the SII start-of-activities certificate. The SEREMI has 3 days to reply.
Step 2: UyD
Autorización de Uso y Disposición. Filed with the SEREMI where the warehouse is. Documents: the CDA file, a sanitary certificate from the authority of the country of origin, a photo or artwork of the label to be used in Chile, technical sheets and the customs import declaration.
Outcome
Based on risk: direct release, inspection or sampling for laboratory analysis. The legal limit is 30 days; the Ministry of Health reports a national average of about one week, with priority for short-shelf-life goods.
If rejected
Re-export, destruction at the importer’s cost under supervision, or an authorised non-food use. An appeal must be filed within 5 business days.
Two practical rules: never move goods to a warehouse not declared in the CDA, and never sell before the favourable UyD — both open a sanitary proceeding. Keep supporting documents for at least 90 days after expiry of the product, or three years where it has no expiry date. Some products that look like food, such as certain supplements and probiotics, fall under the Public Health Institute (ISP) as pharmaceuticals; check the classification before the first shipment.
Law and practice: DFL 725 (Sanitary Code); DS 977/96 (Reglamento Sanitario de los Alimentos, consolidated text updated March 2026); Manual for Food Imports, Exempt Resolutions 322/2015 and 920/2016 of the Ministry of Health.
For meat, dairy, eggs, honey and other animal products, the Agriculture and Livestock Service (Servicio Agrícola y Ganadero, SAG) controls access before the health authority sees the goods. Three conditions must be met:
Country approval
SAG must have evaluated the exporting country’s veterinary service and its animal health status for the relevant diseases, and agreed an official sanitary certificate.
Plant approval (habilitación)
Each foreign establishment must be on SAG’s list. The request goes from the exporting country’s official authority to SAG, never directly from the company. Direct approval by on-site audit takes roughly three months and is valid for two years; remote approval is possible for products where approved plants already exist and is valid for one year.
Beef rules
For beef, an agreement on compliance with Chile’s meat law (Ley de Carnes) on classification and labelling of cuts is also a prerequisite.
Border inspection
SAG inspects at the point of entry and checks the official certificate against the shipment.
For fresh fruit, vegetables, grains and seeds, SAG applies phytosanitary import requirements set by product and origin, usually after a pest risk analysis; an official phytosanitary certificate from the exporting country is required. Fish and seafood are certified by the exporting country’s authority under conditions agreed with SERNAPESCA.
Law and practice: SAG Resolutions 3138/1999 and 1150/2000 (approval of foreign livestock establishments). Costs of direct audits are borne by the establishments.
Labels must comply with the Reglamento Sanitario de los Alimentos: product name, ingredients in descending order, net content, date marking, storage conditions, name and address of the importer, country of origin and the nutrition table, in Spanish. The SEREMI checks the label at the UyD stage, and the UyD file must include the label that will be used in Chile — so imported packs are usually adapted with an adhesive Spanish label before sale.
On top of that, Law 20.606 requires a black octagon reading “ALTO EN” (high in) calories, sodium, sugars or saturated fat, issued by the Ministry of Health, on packaged food to which sugar, honey, syrups, sodium or saturated fat have been added and which exceeds these limits (final stage, in force since 26 June 2019):
| Nutrient | Solid food (per 100 g) | Liquid food (per 100 ml) |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 275 kcal | 70 kcal |
| Sodium | 400 mg | 100 mg |
| Total sugars | 10 g | 5 g |
| Saturated fat | 4 g | 3 g |
Products carrying any octagon cannot be sold or advertised in schools, cannot be advertised to children under 14 and cannot use toys or gifts as incentives. Export-only products that do not meet Chilean rules carry a “Z” mark and cannot be sold locally.
Law and practice: Law 20.606 on nutritional composition of food and its advertising; DS 977/96, Articles 107–120 bis; Exempt Resolution 860/2017.
Food is Paraguay’s main business with Chile. Chile is the largest buyer of Paraguayan beef: from January to September 2025 it took US$514 million of the US$1,604 million Paraguay exported, about a third, and the Paraguayan side puts annual volumes at around 100,000 tonnes. Soybean meal and, more recently, rice also go west.
Tariff
0% under ACE 35 with a valid certificate of origin; 6% without it. VAT applies either way.
Approved plants
As of August 2026, 12 Paraguayan meat plants were approved by SAG to export beef to Chile, supplying nearly 20 cuts.
Audits
SAG audits plants in person; approvals last two years. Its July 2026 audit covered a new beef plant and two renewals for meat-and-bone meal, with the official report expected about 30 days later.
Certification
SENACSA, Paraguay’s animal health service, issues the export certificate agreed with SAG and channels plant approval requests.
Route
Refrigerated trucks cross Argentina to the Andean passes; the Bioceanic Corridor through the Chaco will add a northern route.
For a Paraguayan exporter of other foods — dairy, poultry, processed products — the first question is not the tariff but whether SAG has opened the market for that product from Paraguay. If it has not, the process runs government to government and takes months; if it has, the exporter needs a plant on SAG’s list and a Chilean importer able to manage the SEREMI steps.
Law and practice: ACE 35 (Mercosur–Chile, 1996). Beef export figures from Paraguayan press reports of SENACSA and trade data, 2025–2026.
Because there is no product registry, the Chilean importer of record carries the sanitary risk shipment by shipment. Choose one with an authorised warehouse (or access to one), experience with the SEREMI platform and, for chilled or frozen goods, cold storage that can hold stock for a week or more while the UyD is pending. Customs clearance itself is fast; above US$1,000 FOB a licensed broker must file the import declaration.
Chile’s extended producer responsibility law (Law 20.920) treats importers of packaged goods as producers: collection and recovery targets for household packaging have applied since September 2023, so the importer must join a collective management system and report the packaging it places on the market.
Has SAG opened Chile to this product from this origin? Is your plant on SAG’s list?
HS line, any price-band product, IABA for drinks, and whether ISP rather than the SEREMI is competent.
Chilean company with RUT, SII activities and an authorised warehouse.
Spanish label meeting the RSA, and octagons where limits are exceeded.
ACE 35 certificate of origin; official sanitary or phytosanitary certificate.
CDA at the port SEREMI; UyD at the warehouse SEREMI; no sale before approval.
Ministry of Health — food foreign trade (CDA and UyD) · Ministry of Health — sanitary control of imported food 2025 · SAG — approval of foreign livestock establishments · Carey — final stage of the labelling law · Diario Oficial — Exempt Decree 397/2025 (wheat and flour) · Nubox — additional taxes on beverages · DatamarNews — 12 Paraguayan plants approved · Última Hora — SAG audit, July 2026 · InfoNegocios — Paraguayan beef exports 2025
No. Chile has no general food product registry. Instead each shipment needs a CDA and an authorisation of use and disposal (UyD) from the regional health authority (SEREMI de Salud).
The Certificado de Destinación Aduanera: a SEREMI authorisation to move imported food from customs to an authorised warehouse. It does not allow sale; that requires the UyD.
The legal limit is 30 days; the Ministry of Health reports a national average of about one week, depending on whether the SEREMI releases, inspects or samples the goods.
6% on CIF, or 0% under a trade agreement with proof of origin. Wheat and wheat flour are subject to a price-band system with duties or rebates set by decree.
Black front-of-pack warnings required by Law 20.606 on packaged food with added sugar, sodium or saturated fat that exceeds set limits for calories, sodium, sugars or saturated fat.
No, with a valid ACE 35 certificate of origin. The plant must also be approved by SAG and the shipment carry the agreed SENACSA certificate.
The importer of record must have a Chilean tax number and registered activities with the SII; in practice a Chilean company with access to a SEREMI-authorised warehouse.
A flat 6%, mostly zero; broker rule and online sales.
Tariffs, VAT and border charges compared.
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