Türkiye – Import Inspection of Products Subject to the Control of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (Product Safety and Inspection: 2026/5)

Scope

The Communiqué covers products listed in the annexes, including (non-exhaustive by structure):

• Annex-1/A & Annex-1/B: Animals and products subject to veterinary controls
• Annex-2: Plant-based products used in food/feed industry and materials intended to contact food
• Annex-3: Propagation materials (e.g., seeds, seedlings, saplings, bulbs)
• Annex-4: Veterinary biological products
• Annex-5: Veterinary medicinal products and related raw materials
• Annex-6/A–6/C: Plant protection products and raw materials (including prohibited/restricted items)
• Annex-7: Products subject to agricultural quarantine (plant health)
• Annex-12: Forestry reproductive material (with specific regime coverage)

It applies to multiple customs regimes, including Release for Free Circulation, Inward Processing, Outward Processing, Processing Under Customs Control, Temporary Importation, and for certain items Transit and Warehousing (notably Annex-12).

Mandatory Surveillance Certificate

Depending on the product group and annex classification, imports require one or more of the following:

• Pre-notification under the applicable secondary legislation (for Annex-1/A–1/B, Annex-2, and Annex-6/A categories).
• Control Certificate (Kontrol Belgesi) (pre-import approval), notably for Annex-1/A, Annex-3, and Annex-12 imports where mandated.
• Conformity Letter (Uygunluk Yazısı) issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry for relevant annex-listed goods (and certain non-listed goods meeting specific conditions).
• Veterinary Entry Document (Veteriner Giriş Belgesi) for Annex-1/A and Annex-1/B items, accompanying the shipment to the first destination when required.
• Non-conformity Letter (Uygunsuzluk Yazısı) where the product fails compliance checks, resulting in refusal of import clearance.

Where applicable, these documents may be issued and transmitted via the Single Window System (Tek Pencere Sistemi) as e-documents.

Application and Review Process

• Importers must submit required information and documents to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in line with the annex and product category.
• For products requiring a Control Certificate, the application must be filed before importation using the relevant form (including specific forms for certain wildlife or forestry materials).
• Upon assessment, the Ministry issues:
• If a product appears in multiple lists, a single Conformity Letter is issued per import transaction, structured to ensure compliance with all applicable rules (with a specific approach for mixed exemption scenarios).

Practical Application and Customs Declaration Requirements

• Customs authorities require the Ministry-issued Conformity Letter during import clearance for annex-listed items.
• Where the Communiqué grants exemptions or scope-out scenarios, importers declare the relevant fixed reference number in Box 44 of the customs declaration; in such cases, pre-notification / Control Certificate / Conformity Letter is not issued.
• The Communiqué explicitly states that customs administrations do not conduct an additional investigation to verify the declared end-use for imports cleared under certain fixed reference numbers; however, the importer remains responsible for correct use and downstream transfers.
• If GTIP is changed by customs, the process continues in consultation with the Ministry, to align the Conformity Letter and the final classification.

Validity and Legal Effect

• Validity periods for Control Certificates vary by product group:
• Once the goods have entered the Turkish customs territory and the Conformity Letter application has been filed, expiry of the Control Certificate does not prevent completion of the process (as per the Communiqué’s rule).
• For certain live animal imports by sea, the Ministry may grant a limited extension in force majeure or unexpected circumstances, subject to documented justification.

Enforcement and Compliance Risk

This Communiqué carries high operational and compliance impact due to:

• Refusal of import clearance upon non-conformity notification,
• Mandatory outcomes such as return to origin, destruction, abandonment to customs, or other measures determined by the Ministry depending on the product group,
• Strong sanction triggers for misdeclaration, misleading statements, falsified documents, or document tampering, with enforcement under:

From a risk perspective, the most common failure points are mismatches between intended use, annex classification, required pre-notification/Control Certificate, and the Box 44 reference declaration logic.

Repealed Regulation and Entry into Force

• Repeals Product Safety and Inspection: 2025/5.
• Entered into force on 1 January 2026.
• Transitional rules:

Compliance Assessment

For importers, this Communiqué is fundamentally a front-loaded compliance regime:

• Confirm early whether the item falls under Annex controls, and determine whether the pathway is Conformity Letter, Control Certificate + Conformity, or fixed reference number exemption.
• Align commercial documentation (invoice/proforma, product description, intended use) with the correct annex logic, as misalignment typically results in delay or non-conformity.
• Treat plant health/veterinary controls as entry-point sensitive: routing, entry customs office, and inspection readiness materially affect clearance timelines.
• For exemptions relying on end-use declarations, ensure downstream transfer controls because importer responsibility explicitly extends beyond clearance.

See the legislation document.