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[]
[null,"Prepared By:","Contributors:"]
[null,"Marval O’Farrell Mairal","Leandro Castelli"]
[null,null,"Alejo Gascon"]
[]
[]
["Latin American Consumer Guide 2024"]
[]
["Report Generated: 5/9/2025"]
[]
["View your report results on next tab"]

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["Question","Argentina"]
["General Matters"]
["What is the applicable legal regime addressing consumer protection in your jurisdiction?"," The Argentine consumer protection regime is mainly governed by the Consumer Protection Law (CPL) No. 24240, its regulatory Decree 1798/1994, and the Civil and Commercial Code (CCC). Compliance with these regulations is essential for suppliers operating in Argentina, ensuring they follow the relevant consumer protection laws when offering goods or services. "]
["What is the definition of a consumer?"," Consumers are natural persons or legal entities that acquire a product or service for their own use, or their families or social groups. Consumers are considered as such whenever they acquire a product or service for any kind of consumption and as end user. "]
["What goods and services are covered by consumer protection legislation in your jurisdiction?"," Argentine regulation applies to any products or services offered for final consumption or use to consumers in Argentina, whether they are of domestic or foreign origin. "]
["Do the applicable regulations provide a list of consumer rights?"," Yes. The consumer protection regime establishes consumers have a right to:\n \n Receive information: suppliers must provide consumers with truthful, objective, and adequate information, which must be detailed and effective, about the essential features of the goods and services supplied, and their marketing conditions. \n Safety: products and services must be delivered in a way that is not harmful or damaging to health, life, or the integrity of consumers, under normal conditions of use. \n Right to a fair and equal treatment: suppliers must treat consumers equally and in a non-discriminatory manner. \n Mandatory offers: failure to comply with the offer or the contract entitles consumers to freely choose to:\n \n  demand the enforcement of the obligation, if possible; \n  accept another equivalent product; \n terminate the contract, with the right to be refunded of the paid sums. \n \n \n Cooling off period: in the case of contracts entered into online, consumers are entitled to revoke any acceptance of an offer made online, following a mandatory 10-day cooling-off period. The period begins when the contract is agreed to, or when the good/service is delivered. \n Protection against abusive clauses: abusive clauses such as those distorting the drafting party's obligations entail a waiver or restriction of the rights of the adhering party. Likewise, those shifting the burden of proof against consumers, entitles consumers to claim for compensation and punitive damages against suppliers. \n \n "]
["Do the applicable regulations provide a list of consumer duties?"," No. The consumer protection regime does not list specific consumer duties. However, the Civil and Commercial Code establishes a generic duty of contracting in good faith. "]
["Does the authority have extraterritorial jurisdiction when the offeror of the products or services is not located in the territory under its jurisdiction?"," Yes. Argentine regulation will apply to products or service offered to consumers in Argentina, whether offered from within the country or abroad. "]
["Is there any alternative or special regime depending on the type of good or service?"," Yes. Certain products are ruled by special regimes:\n \n Alcoholic Beverages: law 24788 forbids the sale and advertisement of alcoholic beverages to minors (persons under the age of 18). \n Tobacco: law 26687 restricts advertising and forbids selling tobacco products to minors (persons under the age of 18). \n Food and Medication: the National Agency of Medicines, Food and Medical Technology (ANMAT) heavily regulates food and medicine goods. Food goods are also regulated by the National Agri-food Health and Quality Service (SENASA). \n Insurance: insurance contracts are specifically ruled by Law 17418. \n Aviation: the National Aeronautical Code regulates civil aviation in Argentina, even that with commercial purposes. \n \n "]
["What is the minimum information required to be provided to the consumer with respect to goods?"," There is a generic duty of providing consumers with truthful, objective, and adequate information about the essential features of the goods and services supplied and their marketing conditions. Also, there is a general labelling information applicable to all products commercialized in Argentina: \n \n Product name \n Country of origin \n Quality (if applicable) \n Quantity (if applicable). \n \n Please note that all the information provided to consumers must be given in a visible manner and in our local language (Spanish). Further, the CPL establishes that products that may put consumers' health at risk must be supplied with \"reasonable instructions to guarantee consumer safety\". In practice, this generally means including effective warning labels on all parts of the product that may pose an unknown risk to the user. "]
["Potential Claims"]
["Is there a general warranty for products and/or services?"," Yes. The CPL determines that used, non-consumable goods have a legal three-month warranty, while new, non-consumable goods have a six-month legal warranty. Moreover, according to the CPL, consumers are entitled to a 30-day legal warranty providing protection against defects of a service.\n All the participants throughout the supply chain are jointly and severally liable for granting and complying with a legal warranty. Still, contracting parties can agree on a longer term than the one provided in the CPL. \n "]
["Are there any products that have a legal warranty different from the general warranty?"," No. Neither the consumer protection regime nor the civil law provides a warranty different from the one described above. "]
["For what reasons could the consumer initiate a complaint regarding a purchased product or service?"," Failure to comply with the offer or the contract entitles consumers to initiate a claim for damages against the supplier. Moreover, the consumer protection regime establishes that consumers can claim damages whenever they consider their interests are affected or threatened by the actions of the suppliers. "]
["Is there a specific judicial action to resolve lawsuits arising from consumer matters?"," No. Some provinces –and the City of Buenos Aires– have special consumer jurisdictions, with their own judges and procedural rules and laws on consumer matters. "]
["If there is no specific judicial action, how does the consumer make a claim?"," Consumers may file private actions for damages or an action for breach of contract, pursuant to the civil law provisions, before any civil court to resolve lawsuits arising from consumer matters. During these proceedings, consumers are benefitted with the pro-consumer principle. Following this principle, in case of doubt, a law must be interpreted in the overriding interest of consumers. Further, at the time of proof during litigation, the general rule is that the party in the best position to prove a fact must provide the evidence (it is understood consumers are always in disadvantage compared to suppliers). "]
["What types of damages are recognized in legal actions arising from consumer matters? E.g., compensatory damages and punitive damages."," The consumer protection regime establishes a \"full compensation\" for consumers, which seeks to restore the consumer's situation to the state it was prior to the harmful event. In accordance, consumers are entitled to claim for different types of damages: \n \n Loss of profit: consumers are entitled to claim for the loss of expected future profits caused by the supplier's actions. \n Damages : consumers are entitled to claim for the direct economic losses caused by the supplier's actions, as well as for those foreseeable mediate consequences of the supplier's failure to comply with the offer or contract. \n Moral damages: consumers are entitled to claim for any harm in their non-monetary interests caused by the supplier's actions. \n Direct damages: consumers are entitled to claim for any damage to their property or for personal injuries stemming from a supplier's failure to comply with the offer or the contracts. This type of damage includes the immediate economic consequences, excluding the foreseeable mediate consequences. \n Punitive damages: a civil penalty can be imposed to suppliers breaching their legal or contractual obligations towards consumers, according to the seriousness of the act and other circumstances up to a cap of USD 1.2 million (at current exchange rate). \n "]
["Can consumer issues lead to class actions?"," Class actions have had great prominence in Argentina in the last years, and they have become increasingly frequent. The Argentine Supreme Court issued Decree No. 12/2016, defining class action admissibility rules, establishing procedural guidelines, and creating a Public Registry of Class Actions. \n Plaintiffs' claims need to meet the following requirements to be admitted before a Court: \n \n Precise definition of the class. \n Adequate representation. \n Common factual cause of damages. \n Impairment of the class members' right of access to justice. \n \n Consumer protection associations (among others) are entitled to file class actions with different objectives, including seeking the nullity of terms and conditions or certain clauses; or to obtain reimbursements and redresses of any damage consumers may suffer.\n \n "]
["How often does this occur?"]
["Who is responsible for consumer satisfaction? E.g., Producer, supplier, carrier."," General liability rules impose strict, joint and several liability to all those part of the supply chain in the case of faulty products, including producer, manufacturer, distributor, supplier, retailer, and/or anyone using the brand or trademark, notwithstanding the potential recovery actions they may file against the others. "]
["Activities that could develop the Consumer Protection Authorities"]
["Does any authority have the power to regulate, monitor, investigate and sanction non-compliance with the consumer protection regime?"," Yes. Since Argentina is a federal country, there is a federal consumer protection authority -the National Consumer Protection and Consumer Arbitration Office-, coexisting with provincial and municipal ones. Consumer authorities actively enforce the consumer protection regime by reviewing the offer of consumer contracts, prosecuting administrative proceedings, and imposing sanctions when there are violations. "]
["What type of sanctions could be imposed by the authority? E.g., monetary (indicate max. value), closure of establishment"," Consumer protection authorities can require information from suppliers through administrative procedures and, eventually, impose them the following penalties: \n \n Warnings. \n A fine of up to USD 1,2 M (according to the current exchange rate). \n Seizure of goods and products subject matter of the infringement. \n Shutdown of premises or suspension of services for up to 30 days. \n Suspension of registration in the registry of suppliers required to contract with the government for up to five years. \n Forfeiture of concessions, privileges, and special tax or credit systems granted in their favor. \n "]
["Recall Procedures"]
["Does the legal regime regulate safety campaigns or product recalls?"," Yes. Argentine consumer protection legislation expressly provides for recall procedures. Executive Order No. 1798/1994 establishes that if suppliers are aware of that a product may impose a risk to consumers, they must immediately inform this to the Consumer Protection Agency (CPA) or any other authority that might have approved or was involved in the commercialization of the products in Argentina. Further, Resolution No. 808-E/2017 of the former Secretariat of Domestic Trade establishes the procedure for alert and recall of products and services considered potentially harmful or dangerous. "]
["Does the legal regime of safety campaigns or product recalls apply to products marketed abroad and not in the country?","Yes. Recall procedures must be carried out whenever a risky product is commercialized in Argentina.\n"]
["Electronic commerce"]
["Are there any special regulations on e-commerce?"," Resolution No. 21/04, issued by Mercosur, bounds e-commerce providers to show on their websites clear, sufficient, truthful, and easily accessible information about the offered product or service to consumers, as well as the commercialization. \n Moreover, Resolution No. 37/19, issued by Mercosur, establishes the protection of consumer rights in e-commerce transactions. This Resolution applies to e-commerce providers based on or established in any of the Mercosur member states, or that carry out commercial operations under any of their internet domains. The Resolution thus establishes that providers must: \n \n Provide clear, sufficient, truthful, and easily accessible information about the supplier, the product, the service, and the transaction carried out throughout the whole process. \n Display on their websites the following information, which should be accessible to consumers: • Commercial and trade name • Address and an electronic domicile • Customer service's email • Tax ID • Manufacturer's ID, if applicable • ID records of products subject to authorization regimes, if applicable • Prices with taxes included and any additional costs or fees • Essential characteristics of the product or service, including risks to the health and safety of consumers • Payment methods detailing the number of installments, their periodicity, and the total financial cost of the operation, in the case of forward sales • The terms, conditions, and / or limitations of the offer and availability of the product or service • Any other relevant conditions that consumers should know. Resolution No. 37/19 Mercosur obliges providers to: • Ensure easy access and visibility of the terms and conditions, and guarantee that consumers can read, save, and store them in an unalterable way. • Draft the contract in a complete, clear, and readable way, without references to documents not immediately given to the consumer. Likewise, they must emphasize those sections of greater significance for consumers. • Provide consumers with the means to correct errors in the data entry before carrying out the transaction, and an express confirmation mechanism, so that consumers' silence is not considered consent. • Respect consumers' right to cancel transactions without cost within the legal period of regret according to the member state's applicable laws. • Provide an efficient customer service. \n "]
["What types of e-commerce platforms are regulated by your legislation? List and define them."," The regulation on this matter is generic: every offer made through electronic means should comply with it. "]
["Are there any additional rights for the e-commerce regime? E.g., Right to cancel the purchase."," Yes. Consumers are entitled to revoke purchases and subscriptions (and any other acceptance to an offer made online) because of a mandatory cool-off period of 10 days. The period begins when the contract is agreed to, or when the good/service is delivered (whichever happens last). If the ten-day period expires in a non-working day, it is extended until the next working day. Any clause stating that a consumer waives this right is considered null and void. The ten-day deadline will not start if the right to revoke is not duly informed to consumers in every document related to the purchase, meaning that consumers could revoke their acceptance with no time limit. If the contract is revoked, both parties will be freed of their obligations and must return what they received from each other. Moreover, the impossibility of returning the goods will not mean that the consumer cannot revoke the contract. Exercising this right is always free of charge for consumers. There are only a few explicit exceptions to the right to revoke. These apply to some products which, due to their nature, cannot be returned: tailor-made products, music and video, records, software, databases and -in general- products delivered in an electronic format that consumers can download and use immediately and permanently; and periodic press subscriptions like newspaper and magazines. "]
["Crypto assets"]
["Is this regime applicable for the purchase and sale of crypto assets?","Yes. The consumer protection regime applies whenever a good is acquired for consumer use and as end user. If crypto assets are purchased for profit-making, this regime will not be applicable.\n"]
["Influencers"]
["Are there any provisions or does the regime contemplate any regulations that must be applied by influencers when advertising?","No. The consumer protection regime does not include regulations regarding influencers. Still, there are cases in which the CPA considered influencers as part of the supply chain, as they offered \"advertisement services\" and, consequently, were jointly liable for faulty products.\n"]
["Additional matter of interest"]
["Are there any expected changes over the next 12 months that are likely to have a significant impact on the regime in your jurisdiction?","Yes. In the past years, there have been several bill seeking to set a National Consumer Protection Code that replaces the CPL. In 2021, a bill had the Chamber of Representatives' preliminary approval.\n\nThere are legislative proposals to establish specific reorganization and bankruptcy proceedings for consumers.\n"]