Amendment to the Communiqué on Import Surveillance (Communiqué No: 2023/7)

Technical summary of the change (table-based comparison)

The amendment does not change the legal mechanism of surveillance; it updates (mostly increases) the unit customs value thresholds (USD/unit) that determine when imports require a Surveillance Certificate.

Below is a practical “what changed” view versus the previous thresholds you provided:

A) Items with significant increases (higher thresholds = broader reach of surveillance triggers)

Vacuum cleaners (8508…)

• 8508.11.00.00.11 – ≥110V, robot/smart vacuums: 200 → 300
• 8508.11.00.00.11 – ≥110V, excluding robot/smart: 70 → 120
• 8508.11.00.00.19 – others, robot/smart: 200 → 300
• 8508.11.00.00.19 – rechargeable upright cordless vacuums: 100 → 150
• 8508.19.00.00.00 – other vacuums: 50 → 100

Mixers / small kitchen appliances (8509…)

• 8509.40.00.00.12 – stand mixers (3–10L): 80 → 120
• 8509.40.00.00.12 – mixers excluding stand mixers (3–10L): 10 → 40
• 8509.40.00.00.14 – fruit & vegetable presses: 10 → 40
• 8509.40.00.00.15 – complete sets: 15 → 65
• 8509.40.00.00.19 – others: 15 → 65

Heating / water heating / hair appliances / ironing (8516…)

• 8516.29.91.00.19 – other heated air curtains: 30 → 100
• 8516.29.99.00.12 – duct heaters: 40 → 60
• 8516.29.99.00.13 – other heaters & stoves (excluding PTC heater): 40 → 60
• 8516.31.00.00.11 – hair dryer heads: 10 → 40
• 8516.31.00.00.19 – other hair dryer types: 10 → 40
• 8516.40.00.00.11 – steam irons: 35 → 60

Cookers, grills, toasters (8516.60…)

• 8516.60.10.00.00 – cookers with at least one oven and one hotplate: 125 → 250
• 8516.60.70.00.00 – grills and fryers: 15 → 30
• 8516.60.90.00.11 – toasters: 15 → 40

Airfryer-related lines (8516.60 / 8516.79…)

• 8516.60.90.00.19 – airfryer (2–10L): 100 → 125
• 8516.60.90.00.19 – other (excluding airfryer): 30 → 100
• 8516.79.20.00.00 – fryers, airfryer (2–10L): 100 → 125
• 8516.79.70.00.00 – others, airfryer (2–10L): 100 → 125

Coffee/tea machines and toasters (8516.71 / 8516.72…)

• 8516.71.00.00.11 – coffee-only: 50 → 85
• 8516.71.00.00.12 – tea-only: 32 → 50
• 8516.71.00.00.19 – others: 50 → 80
• 8516.72.00.00.00 – bread toasters: 10 → 30

B) Items unchanged (no commercial impact from threshold point of view)

• 7321.11.90.00.11 – gas-fuel stoves (excluding camping stoves): 75 → 75
• 8516.10.11.00.00 – instantaneous water heaters: 10 → 10
• 8516.10.80.00.11 – immersion heaters: 10 → 10
• 8516.10.80.00.12 – kettles: 15 → 15
• 8516.29.91.00.11 – heated air curtains: 100 → 100
• 8516.60.50.00.00 – electric hob hotplates / boiling rings: 15 → 15

C) New (explicitly added) lines compared to your “old table”

These items appear in the new table but were not present in the old table you shared:

• 8509.40.00.00.13 – blenders: 60
• 8516.10.80.00.13 – thermosiphons used on marine vessels: 10
• 8516.10.80.00.19 – “others” remains 10, but now the marine thermosiphon is carved out as a separate line

Practical meaning: the updated table is not only a “value update”; it also refines product segmentation (especially in small kitchen appliances and water-heating sub-items), which reduces ambiguity in classification within the surveillance table.

What this means for companies (operational and risk perspective)

1) More shipments will fall into “surveillance document required” territory

Under Communiqué 2023/7, the surveillance trigger is tied to whether the imported goods have unit values below the threshold shown. By raising thresholds across many lines, the regulation effectively widens the group of transactions that may be treated as “below threshold” and therefore require a Surveillance Certificate.

In practice, this is a tightening effect for:

• low-to-mid priced consumer appliances, and
• shipments with promotional pricing, bundle pricing, clearance stock, or brandless/OEM items.

2) Product definition risk increased (line-level distinctions matter)

The revised table includes more “only/except” splits (robot vs non-robot vacuum; airfryer vs non-airfryer; stand mixer capacity range; cordless upright vacuum line, etc.). This means:

• GTİP accuracy and product description discipline become more important, and
• mis-declaration risk rises if the invoice/packing list does not clearly support the correct table line.

3) Documentary readiness becomes a lead-time issue (not a customs-day issue)

Because Article 2 of the Communiqué framework states the goods may be imported only with a Surveillance Certificate (searched at declaration/registration), firms should treat this as:

• a pre-shipment compliance step, not something to “fix at clearance”.

Recommended actions (what importers should do now)

1. Map SKUs to the correct GTİP + the correct “table line” descriptionEspecially for vacuums, airfryers, mixers/blenders and cookers, ensure technical specs are captured:
2. Run a unit-value check before purchase order confirmationCompare the planned invoice unit price (and how it will appear in customs value composition) to the threshold:
3. Align commercial documentation to the selected lineInvoices should describe the product in a way that supports the correct category (e.g., “robot vacuum cleaner”, “airfryer 5L”, “stand mixer 6.5L”, “cordless upright vacuum”, etc.).Weak descriptions create avoidable “line mismatch” risk during review.
4. Expect more scrutiny in valuation consistencyWhile the surveillance value is not the “customs value rule” itself (the Communiqué explicitly states it does not replace customs valuation rules), in practice it is used as a risk indicator. Where unit prices are low, firms should be ready to explain the commercial rationale (discounts, model year, bundled sales, etc.) through clean documentation.

See related legislation document