Amendment to the Communiqué on the Import of Certain Electric and Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles – Product Safety and Import Control (Türkiye)

Scope

Under the amended Article 1, the purpose of the Communiqué is now explicitly limited to setting out the procedures and principles for import inspections of type-approved electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles whose tariff positions and product descriptions are listed in Article 3 of the original Communiqué.

Compared to the previous wording, the concept of “regulating imports” has been replaced with “regulating import controls”, signaling a more technical and compliance-oriented scope.

Legal Basis and Regulatory Framework

A significant change is introduced in Article 2 regarding the legal basis of the regulation. The Communiqué is now grounded in Türkiye’s product safety and technical compliance legislation, including:

• the Product Safety and Technical Regulations Law No. 7223,
• the Presidential Decree on the Organization of the Presidency,
• the Technical Regulations Regime Decision, and
• the Regulation on Technical Regulations in Foreign Trade.

Previously, the Communiqué was based on the Import Regime Decision. This change clearly relocates the regulation into the product safety and conformity assessment system, rather than the customs tariff or trade policy framework.

Practical Implications for Importers

From an operational perspective, this amendment does not introduce new tariff measures or quantitative restrictions. Instead, it:

• clarifies that imports of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles are subject to product safety-focused import inspections,
• reinforces the role of type approval and technical compliance as the core condition for import clearance, and
• aligns vehicle imports with the broader technical regulation and market surveillance system.

Importers should expect controls to be conducted under product safety inspection procedures, rather than purely trade-policy-based import checks.

Entry into Force

The amended Communiqué enters into force on 1 January 2026 and is enforced by the Ministry of Trade.

Compliance Assessment

From a compliance standpoint, this amendment is structural rather than restrictive. It does not tighten access to the market through quotas or bans, but it raises the regulatory visibility of product safety compliance in the import phase. Importers of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles should ensure that:

• type approval documentation is complete and consistent,
• technical conformity files are readily available for inspection, and
• internal compliance teams treat vehicle imports as part of the product safety regime, not merely as a customs clearance exercise.

This shift reduces legal ambiguity and aligns vehicle imports with Türkiye’s harmonized product safety controls, but it also increases the importance of technical documentation accuracy during import inspections.

See the legislation document.