Turkey: Communiqués On Exportation And Importation Of Goods Which Possess Electronic Identity Information

Two Communiqués, namely the Communiqué on the Exportation of Goods which Possess Electronic Identity Information ("Exportation Communiqué")¹ and the Communiqué on the Importation of Goods which Possess Electronic Identity Information ("Importation Communiqué"),²issued by the Ministry of Trade, were published in the Official Gazette of June 18, 2019. As per Article 6 of each Communiqué, these Communiqués came into force twenty days after their publication date, on July 8, 2019.

Shortly afterwards, a provisional article also came into force on July 12, 2019 with two communiques (i.e. the Amendment Communiqué for the Communiqué on the Exportation of Goods which Possess Electronic Identity Information and the Amendment Communiqué for the Communiqué on the Importation of Goods which Possess Electronic Identity Information³). The relevant articles state that the articles of Exportation and Importation Communiqué will not be applicable until December 31, 2019 (including this date) in case there is an exportation or importation of the goods by the exporters or importers who have the vehicle type approval certificate and Authorized Operator Certificate for the goods which are at certain Customs Tariff Statistics Position.

The aim of the Communiqués is to regulate the procedures and principles regarding the control of exportation and importation of goods which possess electronic identity information by the Information and Communication Technologies Authority ("BTK").

The Communiqués provide nearly the same provisions and they both include the definitions of (i) the Ministry ("Ministry of Trade"), (ii) BTK, (iii) GSMA ("Global System for Mobile Communications Association"), (iv) IMEI (the number which indicates electronic identity information of mobile devices), and (v) Single Window System.

According to both of the Communiqués, the Single Window System, which is operated by the Ministry of Trade, is a system that enables applications regarding the approvals and documents that need to be obtained from different authorities to be submitted to a single location and/or single entity. The Communiqués also state that this is a system used in customs transactions where documents can be sent in the electronic environment (i.e., as e-documents), which is regulated by the relevant authorities.

According to Article 4 of both Communiqués:

- Before exportation and importation of goods that possess an IMEI number, the declarant should apply to the BTK through the Single Window System for eligibility check of the IMEI number. If BTK's assessment is positive (i.e., affirmative) after the examination is conducted in the electronic environment, a letter of conformity will be provided to the declarant.

- The IMEI number of the declared goods will be submitted to the customs declaration system and during the registry of the declaration, the letter of conformity will be demanded by the customs administration.

According to the Communiqués, the importer/exporter will be responsible for complying with the Communiqués during the importation/exportation of goods which possess an IMEI number. Except for mobile phones, if the IMEI number is not declared, a further investigation as to whether or not the goods in question possess an IMEI number will not be undertaken by the customs administration.

The Communiqués finally establish that a letter of conformity will be prepared by the BTK with respect to (i) the declared IMEI information and (ii) GSMA data, along with (iii) the conformity (i.e., consistency) of the IMEI numbers of the devices with the relevant brand and model information, (iv) the existence of a situation relating to lost, stolen or changed IMEI numbers, and compliance with the Regulation of the Registry of Devices that Possess Electronic Identity Information.

This article was first published in Legal Insights Quarterly by ELIG Gürkaynak Attorneys-at-Law in December 2019. A link to the full Legal Insight Quarterly may be found here

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