Wine Law

528 WINE LAW “does not prevent or impair the right of the affected parties to demand compensation from the offender for damages and losses that it may have caused, in accordance with the applicable legal system ” (emphasis added). Thus, if the consumer decides to sue the retailer from whom the wine that caused the damage was acquired, the former must resort to the rules on contractual liability. In contrast, having decided to go, for example, against the producer or the importer, the consumer must do so by non-contractual rules, assuming the burden of proving the fault of the agent of damage [Art. 1(185) Civil Code], an unnecessary requirement in contractual matters, in which the fault is absolutely presumed [Art. 1(271) Civil Code]. The Law on Fair Prices prohibits, in its Article 50, the importation of goods that are harmful to health and forbidden to consume and penalises this conduct with six to eight years’ imprisonment. This penalty may be increased from one third to one half, in the case of the public official who authorises such importation or marketing. Regarding consumer protection, the rules of the Venezuelan Law on Quality System 82 must also be considered. The purpose of this Law is to “develop the guiding principles that the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela establishes in terms of quality, determine its political bases and design the legal framework that regulates the Venezuelan System for Quality, also establish the necessary mechanisms that allow guaranteeing the rights of people to have quality goods and services, through the subsystems of Standardisation, Metrology, Accreditation, Certification, Technical Regulations and Tests” (Art. 1). This Law imposes natural or legal persons, public or private, the obligation to provide quality goods and services that comply with the technical regulations (Art. 6). For this purpose, the Venezuelan COVENIN Standards “constitute the basic reference to determine the quality of the products and services in question, particularly for the protection, education and orientation of consumers” (Art. 41). 82 Official Gazette No. 37.355, 23 October 2002.