Turkey food market: A regulatory overview

IN JUNE 2010, Turkey combined several agricultural regulations into one overarching law. The laws covering Food, Feed, Veterinary Services and Plant Health Laws were slated for implementation on December 13, 2010, as the "Veterinary Services, Plant Health, Food and Feed Law" (No: 5996), although implementing regulations have yet to be published.  Another major change in 2010 was the adoption and implementation of a new Biosafety Law that regulates all aspects of agricultural biotechnology in Turkey.  The majority of the regulations on food and agricultural products are prepared and published by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA).  Currently, the main target of Turkish food and agriculture policy is to harmonise the related laws and regulations with those of the European Union.

'Control certificate'

Turkish food law requires that products be inspected at the point of entry as well as at the wholesale and retail levels. The majority of food and non-food imports require a "control certificate", which is in essence an import license.  It is granted to the importer at the discretion of the import officials, and the import process for each product begins with an application for issuance of a control certificate. The process is described in Communiqué No. 2003/31, which is posted online, in English, at: http://www.kkgm.gov.tr/regulation/com/Com_Approval.html  Control certificates are valid for a period of between 4 and 12 months, depending on the product. All food products for which a control certificate is required are listed with the HS customs codes in the second and the third Article of Communiqué 2007/21 and in Annex-IVA of the Communiqué on Standardisation in Foreign Trade.  These products include cereals, milling industry products, oilseeds, animal and vegetable fats, residues, dairy and fish products, live trees and other plants.  A few food products such as coffee, natural gums, vegetable saps and extracts, vegetable waxes, and cocoa are not required to have a control certificate prior to import, but should have the necessary documents to be cleared from customs.  Products that don't need a control certificate are listed in Annex-IVB of the same Communiqué. 

Labelling requirements

Every food product in the market has to be labelled clearly, completely and accurately in the Turkish language. An imported food item, however, may arrive in its original package, but a permanent "sticker" label, in Turkish, must be attached to the package before it is marketed. Other languages in addition to Turkish may also appear.  The Ministry of Agriculture and local municipality officials enforce labelling requirements. This regulation sets forth in detail, under what circumstances a food product can be labelled, for example, as "light", or "no sugar" or how the vitamin and mineral information should be stated. The regulation also details what warnings should be indicated under what contents.

The following information must be printed on all food labels, imported or domestic:
? Name and brand of product
? Name and address of producing, packaging and importing companies
? Production batch number and date
? Place of Production and Country of Origin
? Expiration date/shelf life
? Nutrition and caloric values
? Net weight/volume
? List of ingredients and additives
? Ministry of Agriculture production or import license number/and date
? Storage, preparation and usage instructions when needed
? Name and type of packing material
? Special warnings, if appropriate

If the product has a shelf life of less than three months, it must include the day/month/year of expiration, if the shelf life is more than three months but less than 18, the month and year are required, and if the shelf life is morAdidas Falcon