DOCUMENTS Country Report Expertise Centre COUNTRY REPORT 2006 - 2007

1 Executive Summary

1.1  General conclusions

Generally speaking, there are a number of success stories to reflect upon since 2002. Some of these are single happenings; others are processes which will go on. This list gives the major examples.

-          A major part of the EU legislation as requested from Turkey at the moment, regarding its quality infrastructure in support of the free movement of goods, has been implemented and the authorities are actively working to make it a part of the daily processes of the Turkish infrastructure.

-          TSE has become a standardisation body compatible with its European counterparts and is ready to be accepted by CEN and CENELEC, as soon as the new law for standardisation is approved by the parliament. At the same time TSE has managed to retain its role as an important player in the national conformity assessment arena.

-          UME has focused on its role as the national traceability provider and major source of know-how in measurement and calibration. UME is a respected partner among the international metrology organisations EUROMET and The Metre Convention, and it represents the Turkish interests. It also provides proficiency testing and interlaboratory comparisons to strengthen the quality of the Turkish laboratories.

-          Conformity assessment facilities have substantially increased in number. Some laboratories are organised under TURKLAB. The number of members of TÜRKLAB is increasing and it has started to play an important role in building up quality awareness among Turkish conformity assessment bodies.

-          UDDer has been set up as an association to set policy and vision on the overall quality infrastructure. It brings together conformity assessment bodies, accreditation body representatives, standardisation body representatives and metrology institutions. It is expected to have an important role in creating a dialogue between the different actors in the future.

-          The process for assessment and appointment of notified bodies has been established and is expected to continue improving and providing Turkish manufacturers with the infrastructure they need. The relevant tools are in place and developing in line with the expectations of the EU.

-          TÜRKAK has signed MLA with EA and ILAC thus achieving both international and very broad national acceptance. TÜRKAK is also an important actor in the notification process as the body that assesses Turkish candidate notified bodies. This provides the notifying authorities with the tools they need for their notification process.

-          Market surveillance has been launched and is developing continuously. Main focus at the moment is on high risk products and the number of products put under market surveillance has increased substantially. However, there is still a lot to be done both in coverage and in coordination and full access to RAPEX remains to be achieved.

-          Consumers are becoming organised with TükoDer as the biggest umbrella organisatiopn and they are becoming aware of their rights and responsibilities. However, there is still a lot to be done to increase consumer awareness. In particular, it is important to increase the consumers’ awareness of their role as a pillar of daily market surveillance.

This summary reflects the situation of the main actors and main components in the Turkish national quality infrastructure. 

The challenge for Turkey now is to take this very significant progress, to finish the remaining issues of non-compliances with respect to the Acquis Communautaire, and to bring the quality infrastructure into a sustainable and dynamical mode of operation.

The following table summarises the judgement of the experts of the Turkey Country report.