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The changes and progress in strengthening environmental law are a milestone in the country's development because they provide international standards by which to assess projects and investments. They also provide national and foreign businesses with the clear regulatory framework required for decision making in any productive environment. Moreover, they also reaffirm Chile's commitment to the principles of sustainable development and demonstrate the depth of its efforts to harmonize the three basic pillars on which it stands: economic growth, social equity and environmental protection, and conservation of natural resources.

The Government of Chile notes that in order to extend and deepen inclusive economic growth, the long term management model must, first, incorporate social responsibility, which is understood to mean the responsibility incumbent upon organizations with regard to their impact on society and the environment; and secondly regard social responsibility as a strategic condition for development.

In April 2013 Decree No. 60 was enacted, establishing the Social Responsibility Council for Sustainable Development (CNRS) as an advisory body of the Ministry of the Economy, Development and Tourism. The Council is headed by the Minister with the relevant portfolio and incorporates various relevant stakeholders from the public and private sectors, civil society, academia and the business world.

The role of the CNRS is to act as a coordinating body between the various entities in the State administration, the private sector and civil society on matters connected with the formulation of public policies concerning social responsibility for the sustainable development of Chile. Its role also involves identifying and reporting on policies, good practices and initiatives in the field of social responsibility which may arise nationally and internationally and, finally, making proposals for public policy measures and actions in that regard.

In the context of its involvement in APEC, in 2012 Chile was invited by Mexico to the seventh G 20 Leaders' Summit, which has become one of the most important economic and financial cooperation forums for developed and developing countries in the world. It afforded a unique opportunity to participate in the important global economic and financial discussions of our time and gave Chile legitimacy and representative status as a developing country that supports the priorities set by Mexico which, in addition to financial matters, include food security, sustainable development, disaster risk management and combating corruption.

The proposal also covers investment incentives for enterprises, personal savings, measures providing preferential treatment for SMEs (MiPYME Statute) and other specific amendments such as the tax increase on polluting technologies, alcoholic beverages and cigarettes.

The link between environmental matters and trade has grown steadily over the years. By electing to follow an export led strategy for economic growth, Chile faces particular challenges posed by the nature of its exports which are natural resource intensive, although diversification is increasing. Chile has negotiated free trade agreements with most of its trading partners and recognizes the importance of greening the process of internationalization.

One of the first measures undertaken by the current Government under President Bachelet was to formulate an Energy Agenda to serve as a roadmap for formulating and implementing a long term energy policy. The Agenda was presented in May 2014 and seeks to address the energy infrastructure deficit that has accumulated in recent years and to unblock bottlenecks that prevent projects from being implemented. It also seeks to achieve a secure, efficient, affordable energy supply for the country that makes sustainable use of renewable resources. The specific targets and goals of the Agenda are as follows:
• to achieve a 30% reduction in marginal electricity costs for the central grid (SIC) during the tenure of this Government.
• to achieve a 25% reduction in tender prices for the supply of electricity to domestic consumers over the next 10 years.
• to remove the existing barriers to non conventional renewable energy sources (ERNC) and meet the target of a 20% feed in of ENRC to the national grid by 2025 under the law in force;
• to promote efficient energy use by establishing a savings target of 20% by 2025.
• to design a Fuel Price Stabilization Mechanism (Mepco) to reduce price volatility;
• to transform the National Petroleum Company (ENAP) into a robust company so that it can become a strong player with a leading role in meeting the energy challenges that the country faces; and
• to develop in 2015 a long term energy policy endorsed by Chilean society through a participative, regional process.

(…) As a general rule, for both imported and domestic products, compliance with technical regulations is verified after the products have been placed on the market. However, for the import of foodstuffs, beverages, medicines, weapons, radioactive substances, electrical goods and fuels, verification takes place at the border. (...)

Compliance with technical regulations, for both imported and Chilean products, is verified after the products have been put up for sale, except for imports of food products, beverages, medicines, arms and radioactive substances, which are controlled at the border.