Product Labeling Monitoring System Under Argentina’s Consumer Protection Law

Through Resolution No. 283/2021, the Secretariat of Domestic Trade created the Product Labeling Inspection and Compliance Monitoring System (SiFiRE, after its acronym in Spanish), which will enter into force on April 30, 2021. As a result, a new set of rules applies to the following product labels:

• Foods
• Beverages
• Drinkable foods
• Toiletries
• Personal hygiene products
• Personal care and household cleaning products suitable for human use and handling

The brand-new resolution was issued within the powers conferred by Executive Order No. 274/2019, by which the Secretariat is entitled inter alia to “determine the mandatory categorizations required to properly identify goods and services that do not fall under other regulations.” Nonetheless, most products covered by the resolution are already regulated by other rules and monitored by other authorities (i.e. Chapter V of the Argentine Food Code incorporates the general labeling rules set forth by Resolution No. 26/03 issued by the Common Market Council of the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR, after its acronym in Spanish) with the Technical MERCOSUR Regulation for the Labeling of Packed Goods, among others; Argentine Agency of Medicines, Food and Medical Technology (ANMAT, after its acronym in Spanish) Resolution No. 374/2006 regulates the labelling of toiletries, cosmetics and perfumes; and ANMAT Regulation No. 10/2013 does the same regarding the labeling of household cleaning goods). It is yet to be determined how that regulatory overlap will be coordinated or which criteria will be applied to products with their own regulation.

Under the resolution, labels of products in the categories outlined above will be inspected before being released to the Argentine market. For label approval, suppliers will have to electronically submit certain documents to the enforcement authority, which will be processed as sensitive information and require a sworn statement.

The enforcement authority will review the documents so as to determine that the information in the label is not false, misleading or confusing with respect to the product’s characteristics, formulation, raw materials, and additives, unit of measure or quantity, origin, pricing, and possible precautions or adverse effects; additionally, it will also check for potential fair trade and transparency infringements in commercial relations. If there is no response from the enforcement authority within ten business days of filing the documents, labels will be deemed approved.

Any misleading labels must be amended. If infringing products have already been launched to the market, suppliers and importers must place a correction sticker on them at their own expense. The sanctions stipulated in Consumer Protection Law No. 24,240 and Executive Order No. 274/2019 on Fair Trade may apply.

Ever since the resolution was published in the Official Gazette on March 31, 2021, labels are banned from featuring special offers, sales or discounts that the manufacturer or importer cannot guarantee.