DOCUMENTS Country Report Expertise Centre COUNTRY REPORT 2006 - 2007

3.3    Conformity Assessment and consumer protection

3.3.1    Associations

3.3.1.1    UDDer

3.3.1.2    TÜRKLAB

3.3.2    Regulations

3.3.3    Testing and inspection

3.3.4    Product Certification

3.3.5    Management system certification

3.3.6    Certification of persons

3.3.7    Notified bodies

3.3.8    Import regime, market surveillance and consumer protection

3.3.8.1    Import regime

3.3.8.2    Market surveillance

3.3.8.3    Consumer protection and rights

3.3.1    Associations

3.3.1.1    UDDer

The Conformity Assessment Board was established in 2003 and served as an advisory board to all stakeholders in conformity assessment: public authorities, private sector, consumer federations and conformity assessment bodies. DTM (Undersecretariat for Foreign Trade) was responsible for the chairmanship of the Board and enhanced its initiatives. DTM further took the initiative to establish an association in order to increase the functioning of the Conformity Assessment Board while replacing it. A draft regulation for an Association of Conformity Assessment, UDDer, was accepted by the members of the Conformity Assessment Board and UDDer was established in June 2006. UDDer is set up as an association to set policy and vision on the overall quality infrastructure. UDDer had its first Steering Committee meeting on 23 November and its first General Assembly on 15 December 2006. UDDer is established as a NGO (Non-governmental Organisation) and is still chaired by DTM. It is intended to represent and serve all stakeholders in the Turkish conformity assessment society, both the private and public sectors. A MEDA project is set up to launch UDDer and make it functional.

3.3.1.2    TÜRKLAB

The first country report 2002-2003 proposed that a Laboratory Association (TÜRKLAB) should be set up similar to the national members of EUROLAB in the EU countries. Such an association could establish the forum for exchange of experience between laboratories, act as the voice of the laboratories as a group and form the Turkish member of EUROLAB.

The second country report 2003-2004 could inform that 7 companies (4 testing laboratories and 3 calibration laboratories) as founding members were in the process of establishing TÜRKLAB as an association of laboratories in Turkey.

The third country report 2004-2005 could inform that TÜRKLAB as the Turkish organisation of laboratories, both accredited and non-accredited, had 34 members all of which were private enterprise laboratories. Furthermore, EUROLAB National Members’ Meeting on 2004-10-26 approved TÜRKLAB as a EUROLAB International Affiliate Member.

The fourth country report 2005-2006 could inform that TÜRKLAB had reached 48 members out of which 30 % were calibration laboratories and 70 % testing laboratories. Two of the members were non-private: TSE and a cement testing laboratory.

In this final report TÜRKLAB can be reported as a vital organisation with 51 members, one third accredited, 49 private and 2 public, 36 testing and 15 calibration laboratories. Annex 7 gives a list of the members of TÜRKLAB as of 2006-12-01.

Annex 8 shows an extract of the Articles of Association of TÜRKLAB as an association of calibration and testing laboratories with the membership policy to accept both accredited and non-accredited laboratories, private as well as public and independent of their size of business. During last years both big and public laboratories have shown interest in becoming members, with TSE as an example and being a strong supporter of TÜRKLAB, holding a position in its Board. Further membership applications are expected in the near future from public laboratories as their new regulations permit membership in private organisations.

The Board of TÜRKLAB has seven members who meet monthly. TÜRKLAB has no permanent office and is entirely dependent on the board members and the contributions from their companies. TÜRKLAB’s ability to promote its activities and arrange seminars and other events could improve if it had its own office facilities, however, the membership fees cannot finance such a step yet. TÜRKAK applies a flat fee of approximately 200 Euro per member independent of the size of the organisation.

TÜRKLAB’s website www.turklab.org supplies open information on TÜRKLAB and technical matters as well as information exclusive to members. The English version of the page is under construction. TÜRKLAB is developing a database of laboratories that aims to cover members as well as non-members.

Last year TÜRKLAB established specialised subgroups in the following areas: environmental, food, textiles and cement testing laboratories. Laboratories in the medical sector are expected to be the next area for specialised subgroups.

TÜRKLAB arranges workshops to help member laboratories in their accreditation process.

TÜRKLAB has discussed the competition between the private and Governmental laboratories in the three authorisation schemes and sent a recommendation to the ministries to require quality systems and perform proper audits before granting authorizations.

Ø Food testing under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, TARIM

Ø Medical testing under the Ministry of Health

Ø Cement and concrete testing under the Ministry of Public Works and Settlement

TÜRKLAB has worked in close co-operation with the EU MEDA Program Expertise Center. Several technical training programs have been performed during 2006 with TÜRKLAB as the beneficiary body, and the laboratory community of Turkey as the target group:

When the EU MEDA project ends and economic support seizes to exist TÜRKLAB needs to finance corresponding training programs with fees from the participants.

TÜRKLAB has also been very active in participating in meetings during 2006:

Besides being a member of EUROLAB, TÜRKLAB would benefit from membership as a stakeholder within EA and ILAC. However, time would not allow the active Board members to cover this.

3.3.2    Regulations

The Undersecretariat for Foreign Trade, DTM, organised under the Prime Minister of Turkey, has a coordinating role and horizontal responsibilities with regards to foreign trade policies that include the implementation of the EU directives for the free movement of goods:

Ø Horizontal and Procedural Measures (92/59/EEC)

Ø Notification of technical regulations (98/34/EC)

Ø Council Decision of 22 July 1993 concerning the modules for the various phases of the conformity assessment procedures and the rules for the affixing and use of the CE conformity marking, which are intended to be used in the technical harmonization directives (93/465/EEC).

DTM has prepared the umbrella regulations related to the free movement of goods:

Ø Regulation on the Notification of the Technical Legislation and Standards;

Ø Regulation on the Affixing and Use of the CE Conformity Marking on the Product;

Ø Regulation on Conformity Assessment Bodies and Notified Bodies;

Ø Regulation on the Market Surveillance and Inspection of the Products.

A list of DTM’s expectations on the further development during 2007 is given in Annex 9.

DTM website (http://www.foreigntrade.gov.tr/engmenu.htm) offers information, also in English.

3.3.3    Testing and inspection

There are around 1 200 public service laboratories in Turkey, all areas included, some of which have very advanced laboratories. Ministries most often have their own inspectorates in the 81 provinces around Turkey. A lot of testing laboratories exist in the private sector and big exporting manufacturing companies often have their own in-house laboratories.

TÜRKAK has built a database on public laboratories on the initiative from the Government aiming at optimising the utilisation of existing resources and avoiding duplicate investments. The database covers a lot of information that allows various ways of searching and sorting. However, the data is from 2004 and the database contains only 1050 laboratories, since all that have been addressed have not reported their information. Even though this database itself is a good source of information the initiative became counterproductive when it ended up with the drafting of the TÜRLAK law. See also Chapter 5.

Some MEDA projects have also identified a great number of conformity assessment bodies in Turkey. Furthermore, a MEDA project also aims at supporting TÜRKLAB to design a database on conformity assessment bodies.

Over the last years the role of public testing laboratories and inspection bodies has changed so that they have become important in the building up of the Turkish market surveillance.

Ministry of Industry and Trade, MIT, identified in 2002 around 1 200 conformity assessment bodies in their field of responsibility. MIT considers that these cover the needs of the Turkish market, except for testing of explosives for civil use, verification of energy labelling and testing of hot water boilers. Laboratories in these three fields exist in industry, but do not meet the requirements of impartiality.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, TARIM, has 40 food control laboratories of its own around Turkey. A MEDA project has supported 15 of these with training programs and 6 of them also with laboratory equipment. Some of TARIM’s provincial offices constitute examples of the improvement in the conformity assessment infrastructure of the Ministry. 24 private laboratories are authorised by the Ministry for food testing. These laboratories perform tests on demand from TARIM’s 81 provincial inspectorates, but also offer testing services directly to manufacturers and farmers. Further laboratories are authorised for testing of fertilisers.

The Ministry of Health, MoH, has 81 provincial Public Health laboratories performing air pollution, food and biological tests as well as some medical tests (pregnancy tests, etc.). Detergents, cosmetics and pharmaceutical products are tested by the Ministry’s laboratories at the Refik Saydam Hygiene Center in Ankara and seven regional laboratories in İstanbul, Samsun, İzmir, Adana, Erzurum, Diyarbakır and Antalya. TÜBITAK, some Universities and a private laboratory in Istanbul also offer testing of different selections of these products. TSE offers testing of products under both the Toys Directive (88/378/EEC) and the Medical Device Directive (93/42/EEC). The private company Meyer has the capability to test products under the Medical Device Directive as well as the Active Implantable Medical Devices Directive (90/385/EEC) and the In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Directive (98/79/EC).

The Ministry of Public Works and Settlement, MPWS, has designated 141 private laboratories in 21 provinces, specialised in testing of concrete and soil, for inspection of buildings. The Marmara Earthquake Emergency Reconstruction (MEER) project financed by the World Bank will set up around 25 laboratories in concrete testing in as many provinces.

The Telecommunications Authority, TA, has its own laboratories, mainly used for market surveillance purposes, for radio communication, PSTN (Public Switch Telephone Network), SAR (Special Absorbing Rate), EMC, OATS testing as well as LVD tests for R&TTE products.

Testing of products to the R&TTE directive is also offered by the following public organisations: TÜBITAK-UEKAE (EMC testing), TÜBITAK-UME (EMC and radio communication testing), TSE Gebze labs (EMC and Public Switch Telephone Network testing) and YıldızCell, a part of Yıldız Technical University, (GSM technology and research).

Some further examples on public organisations offering testing services are the following:

Ø KOSGEB’s laboratories do mechanical testing and materials analysis, incl. spectral analysis. KOSGEB also offers help to companies in developing their Quality Management Systems.

Ø TÜBITAK-ÜSAM has three laboratories: Electronic cards maintenance and repair laboratory, Textile testing and quality control laboratory and Design and rapid prototyping laboratory.

Ø The TAMTEST laboratories have three main departments: Agricultural Power Resources Department, Farm Mechanization Department, Plant Protection Machinery Department.

Ø TÜBITAK-MRC’s Material and Chemical Technologies Research Institute, MCTRI, has since its start served industry in research projects and testing, including regular materials testing.

Ø EGE University Research Centres try to focus on areas of interest to industry and exporters.

Ø METU - Middle East Technical University has some of its laboratories already offering services to the outside market and so does its Petroleum Research Centre (PRC).

Public laboratories mostly have no quality system unless they serve exporters requiring them to.

Some further examples on private test houses and inspection bodies:

Ø Türk Loydu has a laboratory of its own to support its inspection services. 

Ø ESIM offer testing services to manufacturers of electric and electronic products, but is also active in certification of quality systems and third party inspection.

Ø Kalite Sistem Laboratuar Grubu, KSG, in Istanbul does food safety tests for TARIM and performs analyses for TSE as the basis for TSE certificates of conformity. 

Ø Centro Laboratories in Istanbul is offering a broad range of medical testing and analysis.

Ø DÜZEN Laboratories in Ankara is a clinical biochemistry laboratory doing tests for private persons and for hospitals. They have both in vivo and in vitro analyses.

Ø Çevre Group of Laboratories in Istanbul has textiles, industrial and food laboratories of has a broad range of accreditations, authorizations and certifications.

Ø Bureau Veritas, Istanbul, offers textile testing, analytical chemistry and inspection.

Ø Turkish Cement Manufacturers’ Association, TCMB, laboratories do testing and research on cement and similar materials for its member companies.

Ø The Aflatoxin and food Analysis Laboratory under the Commodity Exchange determines the quality of products offered on the market as a service to both producers and exporters.

Ø DAF is an inspection body of type C that performs inspections according to EU Council Directive 96/96/EC, roadworthiness tests for motor vehicles and their trailers.

Ø Environmental Counselling Centre does wastewater and pollution tests.

Some examples on industry with in-house testing facilities:

Ø Gürsoy, producer of hazel nut products, has in-house laboratories for most of its needs, including an aflatoxin laboratory that is authorised by TARIM.

Ø ÖZCAY KOOP, tea producer, has its own laboratory for in-house analyses since 1991.

Ø Zümrüt Food Industry has its own laboratory to perform test on raw materials, process control tests as well as tests of finished products.

Ø Super Film Packaging Industry has its own laboratories for Research and Development and in-house measurements, but some tests are done by KOSGEB and also at Universities.

Ø Başer Ambalaj has its own in-house laboratory for its production control, but some materials testing needs to be done at external laboratories.

Ø KAMBETON, concrete manufacturer, has its own in-house laboratory for its production control. Raw material is tested throughout the production process.

Ø The Vicat Group has its own laboratories at both of its Turkish cement factories. The Konya laboratory has testing facilities both for cement and concrete. It will be organised as a separate company to offer tests on a commercial basis also to external clients.

Ø The Turkish Renault factory has an internal quality control and an evaluation system for parts and products from external sources.

Ø The İzmit water treatment plant has an in-house laboratory that makes chemical analyses, including microbiological, of the water quality in different stages of the process.

TSE continues to play a dominating role and stands for a large total number of test reports, although decreasing over the last years as a result of the removal of mandatory standards:

Statistics on test reports from the major TSE laboratories in Ankara and Gebze have been analysed and the decrease in electrical, electronics construction materials testing is demonstrated in the diagrams below:

The distribution of TSE test reports between product categories over the last years is shown in Annex 10 together with further statistics on testing activities in the TSE Ankara and Gebze laboratories.

3.3.4    Product Certification

With a history of TSE being appointed by the Government to perform mandatory inspection and product certification in Turkey the market has not developed freely. TSE maintains its dominant position in product certification and the volume increases although most certification has turned voluntary.

In the process of change from mandatory standards to the EU principle of voluntary standards TSE Product Certification Center is developing its product certification in a European direction. In addition TSE is studying how to expand its business both inside Turkey and abroad, including both in the EU and the Middle Eastern countries. The new law on TSE will open up these possibilities. However, TSE is of the opinion that the investment needed prevents it from entering into vehicle testing.

Since 2003 TSE is the Turkish recognizing body in the Common Criteria Recognition Arrangement for IT certification. TSE will use TUBITAK laboratories for evaluations to the Common Criteria (ISO 15408).

TSE still offers a variety of product certifications, both in the voluntary and the regulated fields, as listed in Annex 11. The number of TSE certificates has developed as follows:

Besides TSE operations, the Turkish market for product certification is very limited.

With the implementation of the CPD, Construction products directive, the Ministry of Public Works and Settlement, MPWS, will introduce a G-mark as the domestic certification mark for 285 standards, mandatory from 2008-01-01, that are not due to CE-marking. The G-mark shall be accompanied by information on the manufacturer, time of introduction on the market and the standard to which the product has been tested and certified. Conformity assessment bodies that have been published by MPWS may give attestation of conformity. It is desirable to see accreditation as the requirement instead of appearing on a list without having to prove competence. CE marked products, originating from EU countries, are not required to carry the G-mark.

TARIM’s provincial offices issue production licences for food items or food related products.

A producer of tea may attach the following marks on each tea package for the domestic market:

Ø TSE certification mark (mandatory)

Ø E-mark verifying tolerances of amount of content (so far voluntary)

Ø ISO 9000 certification information (voluntary)

Ø ETKO-mark/logo (on organic products only)

For electrical products TSE helps manufacturers obtain foreign certifications through the IECEE CB and CCA schemes, while HAR and Keymark certifications directly give international acceptance.

3.3.5    Management system certification

The System Certification market in Turkey has grown rapidly over the last years, as indicated both by number of CBs and estimated number of certificates to the most applied standards:

Most certification bodies have their accreditation from accreditation bodies in EU countries but also alternatively from other members of IAF, like China and India. The quality level of the system certification has been constantly questioned based on indications from the market. After recommendation from the project, both IAF and EA have put strict requirements on their members and force them to follow up the activities of accredited bodies outside their national borders. Both IAF and EA have also amended their peer assessment rules, but the effect of this has not shown yet.

The TÜRKAK-accredited certification bodies are estimated to have granted around 30% of the existing certificates, but their market share is declining over time due to the activities of their competitors. The development of TSE in system certification is demonstrated by the statistics in Annex 12. Although TSE broadens its services, their growth rate is less than that of the market as a whole. The market confidence problem is discussed by TÜRKAK and their accredited certification bodies.

Some examples on further certification bodies offering management system certifications are: Türk Loydu, Bureau Veritas, DQS, AFAQ, SGS and TÜV Rheinland all of which together with TSE are concerned about the quality / confidence problem of system certification.

Based on requirements originating from the present public procurement law TÜRKAK offers an information service in checking the accreditation behind management system certificates. A positive answer may, however, be misunderstood as a TÜRKAK “approval” of the certificate.

Some market drivers in system certification are:

Ø System certification is a marketing quality argument and a condition for exporters.

Ø Public procurement promotes/requires certification primarily to ISO 9001:2000.

Ø TARIM requires milk, fish and meat industry to carry a certification to HACCP (TS 13001 under replacement by TS EN ISO 22000).

Ø The Ministry of Environments may start requiring ISO 14000 certification.

Ø However, no market demand has been identified for certification to ISO 16 949 (earlier QS 9000) for producers in the automotive sector.

KalDer, the Quality Association, has developed a Turkish Costumer Satisfaction Index, TMME, Türkiye Müşteri Memnuniyeti Endeksi. The index is an implementation of a National Costumer Satisfaction Index that are in use in more than 20 countries. It is applicable for use in a broad range of industries as part of their Quality Management System.

The index is based on customer evaluations of the quality of goods and services that are purchased in Turkey and produced by both domestic and foreign firms that have substantial market shares. Survey results are analyzed and the results are prepared as of corporate, sectorial and national scores. Due to the international model, it is possible to benchmark the Turkish scores with the scores in other countries. Further information on the Turkish Costumer Satisfaction Index can be found on www.tmme.org.tr.

3.3.6    Certification of persons

There are only 3 organisations in Turkey accredited by TÜRKAK for certification of persons:

Ø TSE renewed its accreditation by TÜRKAK to TS ISO/IEC 17024 in September 2006 for

· Quality Categories (Auditor, Manager, Professional)………. also recognised by EOQ

· Environmental Categories (Auditor, Manager) ………………also recognised by EOQ

· OHSAS (Auditor, Manager)…………………………………….also recognised by EOQ

· Welders 

· Non-destructive testing, NDT 

· Safety Data Sheet Preparing Personnel 

· Occupational Standards (Police, Secretary, Drivers of Refuse collection vehicle)

Ø METU, Middle East Technical University is accredited by TÜRKAK to TS ISO/IEC 17024 for

· NDT, Non Destructive Testing

Ø UGETAM at Istanbul Gas Distribution is accredited by TÜRKAK to TS ISO/IEC 17024 for

· Plastic welding and steel arc welding

TSE is the Turkish member of EOQ, European organisation for Quality, and TSE and METU have applied for membership in EFNDT, European Foundation for Non Destructive Testing.

TSE is most active in expanding certification of persons and has in the last year included certification of Food Safety (HACCP) personnel, Auditors in good agricultural practise, Visual testing in NDT, Automatic welding operators and Copper welders. Further plans are to certify Information Security Management System personnel, Quality management System Personnel in Healthcare, Safety Advisor for the transportation of Dangerous goods.

With TSE as the major player the number of certifications granted up to the end of November 2006 are demonstrating the rapid growth rate of certification of persons in Turkey:

The Ministry of Labour plans to set up a certification scheme for professionals that will interfere with the EU principle of accreditation as part of the National Quality infrastructure. See also Chapter 5.

3.3.7    Notified bodies

Turkey needs Notified Bodies, NBs, to achieve an efficient market in line with the EU principles. The process towards Turkish NBs accepted by the EU Commission has been problematic and slow, but recently started to give result. Several potential NBs are waiting for the outcome of their applications. For most new approach directives the Turkish potential seems promising, especially considering that NBs do not need to have their own testing facilities.

The Undersecretariat for Foreign Trade, DTM, has published the umbrella Regulation on Conformity Assessment Bodies and Notified Bodies, and each responsible authority, mostly ministries, have published their own specific procedures for Notified Bodies to most new approach directives. The ministries have contracted TÜRKAK to evaluate the applicant NBs before applications are forwarded to DTM, responsible for notification of NBs to the EU Commission.

Conformity Assessment Bodies applying to be appointed must meet the following requirements:

Ø The basic requirements in the Regulation on conformity assessment and notified bodies prepared by the Undersecretariat for Foreign Trade, DTM.

Ø The minimum requirements on notified bodies given in the annex of respective directive.

Ø The further requirements and criteria specified in the regulations published by the Ministries.

After Turkey/DTM first notified 8 NBs to Brussels, these were assessed by CEN on behalf of the EU Commission. TÜRKAK was at that point not a signatory to the EA-MLA and the Turkish accreditation system was not considered as equivalent to those in the EU countries. This assessment was not successful and the EU Commission assigned EA to finalise the evaluation task. After this evaluation the following Turkish NBs were accepted on 2006-11-20:

Ø TSE, NB number 1783, for Lifts (TSE was per December 2006 also approved, but not yet announced, for: Pressure Equipment, Appliances Burning Gaseous Fuels and CPD directives.);

Ø Turkish Cement Manufacturers’ Association (TCMB), NB number 1784, for cement (CPD);

Ø Türk Loydu, NB number 1785, for Gas appliances. (Türk Loydu was also approved, but not yet announced, for: Pressure Equipment and Transportable Pressure Equipment directives.)

The notification process is expected to work more smoothly now that TÜRKAK has become signatory to the EA MLA, however with some limitations waiting for MLA in product certification.

Annex 13 gives a list of potential Turkish Notified Bodies based on information prepared by DTM according to the information given by competent authorities during the screening meeting of "free movement of goods" with the EU Commission. The list covers 12 organisations competent to be notified to 14 directives.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade having published regulations with criteria for the designation of notified bodies to 13 new and global approach directives, has its own list of NB applicants and potential NBs for the directives under its jurisdiction. That list includes candidates which are not on the DTM list. The list covers 11 organisations competent to be notified to 12 directives.

The lists from DTM and MIT add together totally 16 organisations, besides universities, listed as competent to 17 directives.

3.3.8    Import regime, market surveillance and consumer protection

3.3.8.1    Import regime

The Undersecretariat for Foreign Trade, DTM, has published the Decree on the Regime of Technical Regulations and Standardisation for Foreign Trade, published in the Official Gazette no. 25965 on 13 October 2005 and in force from the date of publication. This Decree incorporates concepts, definitions and procedures compatible with the EU norms and practices.

An Import Regime was published in the Official Journal No: 25687 (bis 2) on 2004-12-31 and came into force on 2005-01-01. There is also an Export Regime and a Regime on Tariffs. DTM considers all these regulations to be in line with the rules of WTO. They are available on DTM’s website http://www.foreigntrade.gov.tr/engmenu.htm, also offering information in English.

Based on requests from ministries, DTM issues communiqués on control of imported goods. Communiqués on import inspection have been published for Personal Protective Equipment, Toys, Cosmetics and detergent products, RT&T products and Construction products.

TSE still has a role in the inspection of imported goods, but this procedure is being replaced by safety checks made in the provinces upon import. Products under implemented EU directives, with CE marking and having a Manufacturer’s declaration, have free access to the Turkish market. The technical files are checked for products with specific Turkish requirements. At the moment, only products with certain safety risks are tested, as a market surveillance activity.

DTM has sent the implementation of EU Decision 3052/95 on Notification procedure on national measures derogating from the free movement of goods to the Prime Minister for publication.

DTM is in the process of finalising a regulation for the transposition of Council Decision 339/93 on Checks on Conformity with the Rules on Product Safety in the Case of Products Imported from Third Countries. While awaiting the implementation of 2004/9 products considered potentially risky are checked.

One problem that does not seem to be solved yet is the entry of products from third countries without CE marking into the Turkish market through EU member ports, with a transit certificate. The rules of the EU system do not allow Turkey to prevent those products entering its market as this would go against the free circulation of goods. As a consequence products, which do not conform to safety requirements, can directly enter the Turkish market without import inspection.

Turkey’s only chance is to detect these during market surveillance. It is recommended that this problem is solved through bilateral discussions and agreements with involved EU countries. It is also important that importers take their responsibility in stopping non-compliant products from entering Turkey.

Turkey can not prevent those products from entering its market, but should try to solve the problem through bilateral agreements with those EU countries that mostly allow such transit. The possible safety problem should be dealt with through market surveillance activities and actions towards the responsible importer to Turkey.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, TARIM, performs the inspections on imported food items through its provincial food inspectors in 25 cities.

Mutual recognition in the non-harmonised area has not yet been introduced in the Turkish legislative system. Consequently there is not an operational mutual recognition system in the Turkish market. This is a major reason for TBTs, Technical Barriers to Trade.

3.3.8.2    Market surveillance

Turkey has made a good start on its market surveillance activities. However, there are differences between ministries on how far they have developed their market surveillance and there is still a lot to be done. Market surveillance, MS, has increased and improved substantially from 2004 till 2006. The Market Surveillance Coordination Board, chaired by DTM has met 6 times in 2006 and set up an action plan. The Market Surveillance Coordination Board members are connected to an information network. The responsible authorities have put their regulations in place. Twinning projects have supported in training of inspectors and planning of activities. The volume of market surveillance has increased and an improvement has been indicated in the ratio of compliant versus non-compliant products.

While the Market Surveillance Coordination Board plays an increasingly proactive role, coordination between market surveillance authorities, as well as within them (communication between ministry DGs, and between central and regional offices) is still problematic. There is a lack of coordination and communication which may lead to duplication of efforts. In the worst case the lack of communication and coordination may also lead to a product entering the market through one port while being refused in another. The lack of coordination and cooperation also leads to suboptimal solutions to global problems. In particular there is a need for an on-line system accessible to all Turkish market surveillance authorities so that once a non-compliant product is detected it can efficiently and effectively be removed from the whole market without delay. A central on-line system would also facilitate cooperation with European market surveillance authorities.

Turkey has still not got full access to information through the RAPEX system. However, as some of the RAPEX information is openly available over Internet, Turkey uses that information. Turkey’s application to EU for full participation in RAPEX is a priority issue for DTM.

The Undersecretariat for Foreign Trade, DTM, is working on the transposition of the Council Directive no. 2001/95 on General Product Safety (GPSD), amending the Law no 4703 on The Preparation and Implementation of Technical Regulations, which were published in 2001, at that time transposing the old GPSD 92/59. This new regulation will clarify the responsibilities of manufacturers and the importance of market surveillance.

Training activities and technical infrastructure matters have been co-ordinated across the Ministries. The financial aspects of market surveillance have been noted. Each ministry needs financial resources in its budget to perform the market surveillance within its responsibility.

DTM reports that the Turkish Market surveillance authorities (MSAs) performed market surveillance activities during 2005 in their sectors of responsibility as presented below:

Ø Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT) checked 11.783 products including shoes, textiles, electronics, machinery, motorcycles, elevators, explosives for civil use, aerosols, simple pressure vessels, gas burning devices, new hot boilers. The checks were carried out as document and marking checks. 23 % of the products were found non-compliant.

Ø Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (TARIM) carried out its controls on foodstuffs, feed products, sea products and veterinary products. The total amount of foodstuffs checked until November 2005 was 245 810. 2.6 % of this amount was found non-compliant. The Ministry also carried out 1151 checks in the processing premises of sea products. The Ministry also checked each feed factory twice in 2005.

Ø Ministry of Health (MoH) carried out checks on documents and marking of toys and medical devices. 115 cosmetics were checked. MoH applied fines for non-compliant cosmetics.

Ø The Ministry of Labour and Social Security warned the producers, importers and distributors of personnel protective to complete the CE marking requirements on equipment in 7 cases.

Ø Undersecretariat for Marine Affairs (UMA) carried out checks on documents for 133 products under the Recreational Craft regulation. 92.5 % of the products were found non-compliant.

Ø Telecommunications Authority (TA) checked 1963 products including radio and telecommunications terminal equipment. 5.5 % of the products were found non-compliant.

Ø Tobacco Authority checked 28 998 tobacco products and 294 alcoholic beverages. 41.4 % of tobacco products and 221 of alcoholic beverages were found non-compliant.

Information on import controls was not included in the report, but most of the risky products were also subject to import controls.

DTM’s and Market Surveillance Authroties’ strategy includes the following:

Ø The EU financed projects on market surveillance will be carried out to help establish the necessary administrative and technical infrastructure for the effective implementation of MS.

Ø The MSAs will continue to organize seminars on Market Surveillance for the civil society.

Ø Risk analysis will be the basis of inspection activities.

Ø The laboratory infrastructure will be improved. New laboratories will be established in some areas and the improvement of the existing ones will continue.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade, MIT, responsible for most new approach directives, published the regulation governing the principles and procedures of market surveillance under the responsibility of MIT in the Official Journal on 2003-05-09 (No.25103) and it entered into force at the date of publication. MIT considers itself to have the necessary mechanisms for market surveillance using inspectors at 81 provincial offices under the Ministry.

Statistics on the market surveillance performed by MIT since 2004 is shown in Annex 14.

The MIT market surveillance from 2004 to 2006 has developed in the following aspects:

Ø The number of market surveillance inspections has increased substantially.

Ø The number of firms checked in market surveillance inspections has also increased substantially.

Ø Although the number of checks has increased the ratio of non-conforming products has decreased. This may indicate an improved awareness amongst manufacturers.

Ø Domestic and imported products have similar non-conformity ratio.

Ø The market surveillance work has mostly been distributed from MIT headquarters to the 81 provincial offices. This has been possible after training of the MIT inspectors.

MIT is identifying risky products, using the following indicators in its work:

Ø Complaints about the products and information received about the products;

Ø Information obtained from RAPEX;

Ø Information obtained from previous inspection reports;

Ø Information obtained from the Consumer Protection Associations;

Ø Accident reports.

MIT is in the process of subcontracting testing laboratories for market surveillance tests, but has some difficulties due to requirements in the present Public Procurement Law. Potential test houses have been identified for products under several of the MIT product directives.

MIT representatives participate in two ADCO (Administrative Co-operation) Market Surveillance groups organised by the EU Commission: on Pressure Vessels and Machinery.

The Ministry of Health, MoH, reports on its market surveillance for products under the Medical Device Directive that up to now, 152 controls were made and 22 of the products were found non-compliant to MDD. Ten of them were restricted temporarily from being placed on the Turkish market and necessary actions were taken for the remaining 12 products.

3.3.8.3    Consumer protection and rights

The Directorate General for Protection of Consumers and Competition (DGPCC) within the Ministry of Industry and Trade, MIT, has the overall responsibility for consumers’ protection and rights.

The “Law on Consumer Protection”, No. 4077 of 1995, was amended by Law No. 4822 in June 2003. 16 implementing regulations, in compliance with the directives, have been adopted to harmonize the legislation with that of EU. Some examples from the Law No. 4822 of 2003 are:

Ø Article 4 deals with defective goods and services and gives the consumer the right to apply to the seller within 30 days to refund, replace or reduce the price in proportion to the defect or to repair the goods.

Ø Article 6 deals with unfair contract terms. 

Ø Article 8 and 9 deal with door sales. They allow the consumer to return goods within a seven-day period and the seller or supplier must not require payments until that period has expired. 

Ø Article 13 specifies a minimum guarantee period of two years and requires that the manufacturer or importer of industrial goods issues a guarantee certificate.

Ø Article 16 deals with commercial advertisement requiring true and correct advertising. A Board of Advertising gives guidelines prohibiting misleading advertising. Particular attention is devoted to protect children.

Ø Article 24 deals with suspension of production and sales as well as product recalls. These tools are in the hands of the court and may be called upon by the Ministry, individual consumers or consumer’s organisations.

The value limit under which the Arbitration Committees in 931 location, 81 provinces and 850 districts settle the disputes between consumers and suppliers have been increased to € 415 by the new law. Disputes over € 415 are dealt with by twenty consumer courts (7 operating in Ankara, 6 in Istanbul, 3 in Izmir and 1 each in Adana, Antalya, Bursa and Kayseri). In other provinces, the Commercial Courts and General Civil Courts are provisionally authorised to act as Consumer Courts.

Information material on consumers’ protection and rights is distributed to be included in the education at public schools. During 2005, MIT ran a campaign on consumer protection using brochures, TV advertisements, and TV and radio programs.

The Board of Advertisement, monitoring advertisements and examining consumer claims, has continued to announce its decisions monthly on website www.sanayi.gov.tr.

While the Ministry of Industry and Trade basically has the overall responsibility for consumer protection, matters related to food quality and safety are dealt with by TARIM, why TARIM and its directorates also make evaluation of consumers’ complaints on foodstuff products.

MIT participates actively in OECD Consumers Committee and in United Nations Market Surveillance