G/LIC/Q/TUR/10  
 
27 April 2015  
(15-2266)  Page: 1/5  
Committee on Import Licensing  Original: English  
 
  REPLIES BY TURKEY TO THE QUES TIONS FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION 
(G/LIC/Q/TUR/9) REGARDING TURKEY’S IMPORT LICENSING  
NOTIFICATION (G/LIC/N/3/TUR/13) 
 
The following communication, dated 24 April 2015, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of Turkey. 
 
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Turkey thanks the European Union for the follow up questions (G/LIC/Q/TUR/9) and would like to 
elaborate on some aspects regarding the Turkey’s import licensing notification (G/LIC/N/3/TUR/13). 
 
1  SURVEILLANCE LICENCE REGIME 
1.  Could the Turkish authorities clarify why the measure does not figure in their annual 
notification? 
 Turkey is aware of the fact that WTO import licensing notification procedures have been in place for transparency purposes, and they contribute to a more predictable and transparent trading 
environment. Turkey will do its best to fulfil its obligations stemming from the WTO Agreement on 
Import Licensing.  
2. Could the Turkish authorities indicate which is the legal basis (the communiqués) 
governing the surveillance license regime for all the products subject to this regime?  
 
The surveillance system is  based on the Council of Ministers Decision No. 2004/7304 published in 
the Turkish Official Gazette dated 29/05/2004 and th e Regulation on Surveillance published in the 
Official Gazette of 8 June 2004.   
The purpose of the import surveillance system is  to closely monitor and collect specific data 
regarding the imported products with a sharply increasing import volume, but not to bring any quantity or price criteria. On the other hand, su rveillance can be implemented to monitor imports 
of goods subject to anti-dumping measures in order to track countervailing attempts. Another 
purpose of this system is to collect as much da ta as possible before implementing a trade remedy 
such as a safeguard measure or anti-dumping duty . It is also possible to convey a retrospective 
surveillance. The surveillance documents are being issued to the importers without a restriction on 
quantity or the value of the request, and the issuance of the document is free of charge. 
 The Turkish authorities have in dicated as a reason for the existence of the surveillance 
regime the need for data collection in th e framework of evaluation of domestic 
producers' claim on injury that "might lead  Turkey to initiate an investigation of 
safeguard or anti-dumping". Wh ile the surveillance in the fr amework of a safeguard is a 
"normal" practice, its scope (in terms of pr oducts covered) and duration should be 
limited. The surveillance has to cover also all the imports of a targeted product and not 
only these which are under a certain price. Wi th regard to anti-dumping investigations, 
these have to be based on the information provided by the domestic producers; the 
authorities should not reverse the charge  of proof by collecting the necessary 
information form the foreign operators. Th e currently applicable Turkish surveillance G/LIC/Q/TUR/10 
 
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  regime covers hundreds categories of products , in the majority of the cases it applies 
only below a certain price and it is also applicable for years now.  3. All these elements bring the question if the surveillance regime as applied by Turkey 
could be considered as a "sim ple surveillance" prior to sa feguard investigation. Could 
the Turkish authorities clarify this aspect?  
Please see the reply of question 2.  
 4. Could Turkey bring more precisions  on the elements mentioned above?  
 
As mentioned above, the purpose of import survei llance system is to closely monitor and collect 
specific data regarding the imported products with a sharply increasing import volume, but not to bring any quantity or price criteria. 
 
In some cases, the surveillance is only implemented to products below a certain unit CIF value in order to make the least effect on overall trade. This determination is based on the characteristics 
of the product itself or the target of the surveill ance application. The scope of the surveillance in 
terms of the product concerned and the unit CIF value threshold if exists are included in the related Communiqué.  
In their reply related to the surveillance me chanism the Turkish authorities explain that 
in order to ensure that the surveillance regime  could be operated with  the least effect on 
trade, not all of import transactions of a product category but only some which may 
cause injury via dumping or circumve ntion are subject to surveillance.  
 5. Could the authorities clarify the meanin g of this statement and explain how are 
selected the import transactions subject to su rveillance in order to avoid arbitrariness?  
 All surveillance implementations based on the le gislation mentioned above enter into force only 
after a related Communiqué is published in the Official Gazette. The Communiqué typically 
includes information on the scope of the surveillance, products concerned, threshold value if 
exists, the validity period of the surveillance document and all related documents needed for the 
application for the surveillance document. So th e procedure is transparent and the scope of the 
surveillance is known by public. 
 6. Could the authorities provide concrete exam ples of a product indicated as part of the 
surveillance regime scope for which some impo rts are exempted from the application of 
the regime?  As mentioned above, the scope of the surveillance  in terms of the product concerned and the unit 
CIF value threshold if exists are included in the related Communiqué. If there is a threshold CIF 
value stated in the Communiqué, imports with unit  values above this threshold are exempt from 
the surveillance.   
 
The import surveillance system is based on Counc il of Ministers Decision No. 2004/7304 published 
in the Turkish Official Gazette dated 29/05/2004, and the Regulation on Surveillance published in 
the Official Gazette of 8 June 2004.  
 All surveillance implementations based on the le gislation mentioned above enter into force only 
after the related communiqué is published in the Official Gazette. The communiqué typically 
includes information on the scope of the surveillance, products concerned, threshold value if 
exists, the validity period of the surveillance document and all related documents needed for the 
application for the surveillance document as well a s  t h e  a d m i n i s t r a t i v e  b o d y  ( w h i c h  i s  D G  o f  
Imports, Ministry of Economy) for submission of the application. According to the relevant 
Regulation, the applications when submitted in an appropriate and complete manner have to be 
concluded within a maximum of 10 working days. 
 
The validity period of surveillance documents are usually 6 months, this period can vary according to qualifications of the product. The application process under the surveillance legislation requires information that can be obtained from pro-forma invoice. This procedure gives the importers 
sufficient time to complete the application before the arrival of the goods.  G/LIC/Q/TUR/10 
 
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  In the reply to the question related to the source of information from where 
governments and traders can find all the info rmation related to the application of this 
licensing measure (the procedures for the submission of applications, eligibility of 
applicants, administrative body to be approa ched, basis for granting the license, period 
for processing applications etc.) the Turk ish authorities said that the surveillance 
communiqués are published in the Official Ga zette and that information can be obtained 
from the Ministry of Economy. 
 
In EU's view, the surveillance communiqués do  not contain sufficient information on the 
procedure for submission of application, on  eligibility, on the basis for granting the 
license, on the period for processing. The possibility to obtain information from the 
Ministry of Economy does not seem to correspond to the requirement of Article 3 
paragraph 3 of the Agreement on import licen sing procedures. This Article obliges the 
WTO Member applying a non-automatic import licensing to publish "sufficient 
information for other Members and traders to know the basis for granting and/or 
allocating licences".   
7. Could the Turkish authorities explain the compliance of the surveillance regime with 
the provisions of Article 3?  C u r r e n t  s u r v e i l l a n c e  l e g i s l a t i o n  o f  T u r k e y  i s  i n  c o n f o r m i t y  w i t h  t h e  p r o v i s i o n s  o f  A r t i c l e  2 .  A n y  
person, firm or institution engaging in import operations is equably eligible to apply for and to 
obtain surveillance document. Besides, applicatio ns for surveillance document may be submitted 
on any working day prior to customs clearance of the goods and the applications when submitted 
in an appropriate and complete manner have to  be concluded within a maximum of 10 working 
days.  
2  OLD, SECOND, RENOVATED GOODS 
According to the Turkish reply, the importation of old, used, renovated, faulty and obsolete goods 
is subject to the authorization of the Ministry of Economy. On this basis, it seems not possible to 
consider this as an automatic license system and therefore, it should be presented in the annual 
notification. 
 8. Could the Turkish authorities clarify why the measure does not figure in their annual 
notification? 
 Turkey is aware of the fact that WTO import licensing notification procedures have been in place 
for transparency purposes, and they contribute to a more predictable and transparent trading 
environment. Turkey will do its best to fulfil its obligations stemming from the WTO Agreement on 
Import Licensing.  
The Turkish authorities do not indicate in their reply the source of information from 
where governments and traders can find all th e information related to the application of 
this licensing measure (the procedure, eligib ility, administrative bo dy, basis for granting 
the license, period for processing applicatio ns etc.). Article 3, paragraph 3 of the 
Agreement on import licensing procedures obliges the WTO Member applying a non-automatic import licensing to publish “sufficient information for other Members and 
traders to know the basis for granting and/or allocating licences ". 
 9. Could the Turkish authorities submit de tailed information on where importers and 
traders can find the relevant information related to the application of this licensing 
measure? 
 The licensing procedures were officially announced with the Import Communiqué No: 2015/1. The 
importation of the old, used or renovated goods is regulated by the aforementioned Communiqué, 
which entered into force on 1 January 2015.  The Communiqué is based on the logic of classifying the old and used products in three lists, the importation of which: 
- is free (List I A),  
- is subject to prior permission of relevant institutions (Directorate General of Civil 
Aviation and Undersecretariat of the Maritime Affairs) (List I B),  
- is directly subject to prior permission of the Ministry of Economy (List II).  G/LIC/Q/TUR/10 
 
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  The information regarding the application can be found in the Import Communiqué No: 2015/1, 
and the application form can be filled in via the website: http://ith7.ekonomi.gov.tr/   
 
In their reply the Turkish authorities evoked  Article XX (general exceptions-protection 
of human, animal or plant life or health) of GATT as a base for their regime of import of 
old, second hand, renovated goods.  
With regard to the motor vehicles import, th e implementing customs circular n°2012/35 
(adopted in 2012) seems to make the import regime for motor vehicles (HS codes 8701, 
8702, 8703, 8704, 8705 and 8711) more restrictive than before: these products have to be produced in the last 4 months of the preceding year and imported in the first 4 
months of the current year in or der to be considered as "new". 
 10. Could the Turkish authorities clarify whic h is the rationale for evoking Article XX of 
the GATT for putting in place such a restrictive scheme for the imports of motor 
vehicles? Could the Turkish authorities clarify how this restriction could be justified by 
the general exceptions of Article XX of GATT? 
 
Trade in used, old and renovated goods is regulated by many WTO members in order to ensure that these goods meet certain health, safety an d technical standards so as to protect human, 
animal or plant life or health, which is not an easy task but should be a priority. This necessity is 
also guaranteed under the Article XX of the GA TT. In that respect, there have been various 
country practices regarding the issue, and these are illustrated in the studies of some international 
organizations.   
 
11. Could the Turkish authorities clarify which measures have been adopted with 
relation to the domestic production of vehicl es to respond to the same concern of health, 
safety and technical standards evoked in the Turkish reply? 
 The domestic production of vehicles is also subject to the same conformity measures as the imported ones. The domestic products are also cont rolled while they are supplied to the market. If 
the domestic manufacturer fails to conform to the standards, penalties are imposed by the 
relevant Turkish Authorities. On the other side, since the Turkish Government cannot impose direct penalties to the third country manufacture rs effectively, the conformity and economic 
assessment is carried-out as a part of the customs procedures. The only difference is the point the 
audit takes place.  
As for the aspects relating to the European Unio n, the Customs Union between the EU and Turkey 
was established in accordance with the Article XXIV, and the principles regulating the trade 
between two parties were set out with the Council Decision 1/95 of 6 March 1995, which is a special provision prevailing the general rules regulating this application. The explanatory notes on 
the fifth article of the Association Council Decision 1/95 clearly concludes that Turkey “intends to 
retain the provisions of its import regime decree  (Turkish Official Journal No 22158, 31. 12. 1994) 
on used motor vehicles whereby subjecting the importation of such products to prior permission”. 
Besides, Turkey strongly urges to discuss the issu es between the EU and Turkey at the “Customs 
Union Joint Committee”, which is an effective mechanism established to discuss the trade-related issues between two parties.  
 
3  NON-FUEL PETROLEUM PRODUCTS 
12.  Could the Turkish authorities clarify why the measure does not figure in their 
annual notification? 
 
Turkey is aware of the fact that WTO import licensing notification procedures have been in place for transparency purposes, and they contribute to a more predictable and transparent trading 
environment. Turkey will do its best to fulfil its obligations stemming from the WTO Agreement on 
Import Licensing.  
 
The Turkish reply focuses on the Communiqué on means and methods of supply of 
petroleum products except liquid fuels from  domestic and foreign sources, adopted in 
2012. The EU questions were based on the Communiqué on the procedures and principles of supplying non-fuel petrol eum products from domestic and foreign G/LIC/Q/TUR/10 
 
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  resources adopted in 2013. This Communiqué and its provisions do not seem to be 
covered by the Turkish reply.  Against this background: 
 13. Could the authorities provide more in formation in order to allow the EU to 
distinguish the two communiqués and to understand their respective scope and 
objectives?  
Please note that previous explanation that was made in response to the EU’s question under the 
title “Non-Fuel Petroleum Products” of G/LIC/Q/TUR/7 is about the Communiqué on the procedures and principles of supplying non-fuel petroleum products from domestic and foreign resources. This Communiqué was adopted in 2013. This  information is still valid.  
 
Above mentioned Communiqué was prepared in line with the Prime Ministerial Circular No: 2012/19. This Circular was published in the Official Gazette on August 23, 2012. In other 
words, there is not a different Communiqué on this issue enforced in 2012.  
 14. Could the authorities provide answers to the EU questions related to the 
Communiqué on the procedures and princi ples of supplying non-fuel petroleum 
products?  The Communiqué, adopted in 2013, foresees the application of the conformity letter (permit) 
which is provided by the Energy Market Regulatory Authority in order to prevent the misuse of 
non-fuel petroleum products.  
Domestic and foreign supply of petroleum products, which can potentially be used in liquid fuel 
adulteration and which are listed in the annex of the declaration, are subject to an issuance of permit. However, any company which has these petroleum products listed in their plant capacity 
report can import these products or obtain them domestically.  
 Then, even with regard to the Communiqué on means and methods of supply of petroleum products except liquid fuels from  domestic and foreign sources the Turkish 
reply does not identify the source of info rmation from where go vernments and traders 
can find all the information related to the application of this licensing measure (the 
procedure, eligibility, administrative body, basis for granting the license, period for 
processing etc.). In their reply the Turkish authorities indicated only the link on which 
the documents required for permit applicat ions can be found. The licence applied to 
non-fuel petroleum products seems to be a non-automatic one. Therefore, the obligation 
to publish "sufficient information for other Members and traders to know the basis for 
granting and/or allocating licences" foreseen  in Article 3 paragraph 3 of the Agreement 
on import licensing procedures applies.   
15. Could the Turkish authorities explain the compliance of the non-fuel petroleum 
products import regime with the provisions  of Article 3 of the Agreement on import 
licensing procedures? In particular, coul d the Turkish authorities submit detailed 
information on where importers and traders ca n find the relevant information related to 
the application of this licensing measure?  
Enforcement of the above mentioned Communiqué is under the responsibility of the Energy Market 
Regulatory Authority and can be found on the website ( http://www.epdk.org.tr/index.php/petrol-
piyasas/mevzuat?id=1312 ). Documents required for permit applications are posted on the website 
of the Authority ( http://www.epdk.org.tr/documents/pe trol/duyuru/ahu/ahu_kilavuz.pdf ) and all 
conformity letters (permissions) given under this Communiqué can be found on the website 
(http://www.lisans.epdk.org.tr/epvys -web/faces/pages/lisans/petrol AkaryakitHariciUrunTeminiYetk
isi/petrolAkaryakitHariciUrunTeminiYetkisiOzetSorgula.xhtml). The applications are to be made 
online through the portal on the website ( https://basvuru.epdk.org.tr/epvys-
web/faces/pages/onlineEImzaLogin.xhtml ) via electronic signature. 
 
 
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