- Turkish Ministry of Trade amended Customs Regulation
On 30 December 2021, certain amendments to the Turkish Customs Regulation became effective. The amendments cover (i) laboratory analysis of goods prior to customs procedures, (ii) receipt of returned goods previously exported and (iii) the temporary importation of commercial air vehicle engines. The Regulation containing the amendments is available here (in Turkish).
Pursuant to the amendments, it will now be possible to created temporary storage entry records for goods arriving by air or sea for temporary storage at the port of origin based on data kept electronically by the operator. The procedural framework and principles for this system will be determined by the Ministry.
In addition, goods that require laboratory analysis under the Customs Regulation can now be analyzed prior to submitting the customs declaration, provided the customs obligor applies to the relevant customs office first. The result of the analysis can be used for customs declaration purposes as long as the summary declaration, invoice, and other administrative or commercial documents show that the analyzed and declared product are the same item. In such cases, the goods will not be sent for re-analysis in the inspection and control phase of the declaration.
The amendments also allow the engines of temporarily imported commercial air vehicles to be used as replacement engines and/or spare engines for air vehicles owned by the same airline and/or its subsidiaries within the period allowed for temporary importations.
Finally, delivery of goods returned to Turkey after exportation may be permitted, provided that the necessary guarantee is given for value-added tax, special consumption tax and other export-related rights and benefits. The procedures and principles for returned goods will be determined by the Ministry.
- Ratification of the Decision of the EU-Common Transit Countries (CTC) Joint Committee amending the Convention on the Common Transit Procedure
As part of the CTC Committee’s decision to amend the Convention on 1 June 2021, the transfer of customs debt recovery has been regulated, the validity period of the guarantee and guarantee waiver certificates has been extended, and implementations with respect to Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom have been distinguished. Amendments to the Convention are available here.
Pursuant to the amendments, a country’s customs authority shall be able to request the transfer of responsibility to start the recovery from the customs authority of the country of departure if it obtains evidence that the events from which the debt arose occurred in its territory within the legal time limit. The customs authority of the country of departure is required to inform the requesting authority of whether it will satisfy the request within 28 days.
In addition, the validity period of comprehensive guarantee certificates and guarantee waiver certificates has been extended from two years to five years, which may be extended once for one further period not exceeding five years. The customs authority of the guarantee will invalidate the certificate and issue a new one if the certificate is not sufficiently legible due to numerous changes and may be rejected by the customs office of the country of departure.
- Amendment of the Turkish Import Regime Decision and the Decision Regarding the Application of Additional Customs Duty on Imports
With the Decision on the Amendment of the Import Regime Decision (Decision Number: 5052) (Decision), additional financial obligations have been regulated for certain goods, and the revision dates for industry goods for which imports were suspended, and the list of goods subject to reduced customs duties have been updated. The amendments are available here (in Turkish).
In addition, the date of loading upon issuance of a transport document and of registration of the customs declaration have been extended to 1 January 2022 and 28 February 2022, respectively, so that the goods whose customs duties increased on 1 January 2021 may be subject to the customs tax rates that were applicable prior to the publication of the Decision.
Finally, for purposes of calculating the compensatory tax for the inward processing system, the dates for exports to the European Union on which the lower of the import duty rate and the lowest customs duty rate in the European Union Common Customs Tariff were applied, have been changed to 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2020, respectively.
- Amendment of the Decision Regarding the Application of Additional Customs Duty on Imports
With the Decision on the Amendment of the Decision Regarding the Application of Additional Customs Duty on Imports (Decision Number: 5053), the customs duty rates have been changed for a wide variety of products. The amendments are available here (in Turkish).
- New communiqués published for 2022
The Turkish Ministry of Tradepublished new communiqués, which entered into force on 1 January 2022, regulating the procedures and principles regarding the import and product safety of certain products. The communiqués introduce rules and regulations regarding the compliance of products including consumer goods, vehicles, chemicals, medical devices and radio equipment. In this respect, the communiqués set out the procedures that importers must follow when importing certain products and regulate importers’ obligations concerning product safety with regard to human health, safety of life and protection of property, environmental safety and consumer protection.
Pursuant to the communiqués, importers must comply with the rules under the relevant communiqué regulating the specific product imported into Turkey, make the relevant notifications to the customs offices or users, and ensure product safety and the compliance of their products with the applicable law. Failure to comply with the rules and obligations set out in the communiqués is subject to the administrative and/or criminal sanctions under the relevant regulations.
