The Law of Product Safety and Technical Regulations

The Product Safety and Technical Regulations Law numbered 7223 and published in the Official Gazette dated 12 March 2020 (the “Law”), entered into force as of 12 March 2021, following the expiration the one-year transition period. The Law regulates the technical details regarding the safety of all products offered for sale in the Turkish market, aimed to be placed in the market, served in the market as well as the obligations and liabilities of the manufacturers, importers and distributors regarding these products. The scope of the Law covers -in addition to the products in the Turkish market- the products that are not placed in the Turkish market but are to be exported or aimed to be exported to the European Union (“EU”) external market. However, products exported or aimed to be exported to the markets of non-EU countries are not included within the scope of the Law.

The main regulations introduced by the Law are as follows:

From now on, not only products sold in shops face to face, but also products sold by distant sales via e-commerce websites are subject to technical regulations in the Law, and it is introduced that the Ministry of Trade (the “Ministry”) is authorized to conduct an inspection for these products as well.
Traceability mechanism has been strengthened by the Law order to increase product safety and enable the authorities to determine the main liability owner for the product in case of non-compliance. As per the new obligations, records will be filed and kept on the whole supply mechanism of the product from manufacturing until the sale to end-consumer.
In line with the stress placed by the Law on traceability, it is now mandatory to recall unsafe products from consumers under certain circumstances.
Liability for damages in case of non-compliance with the Law is explicitly regulated for the manufacturers or the importers in case of death, injury or damages incurred by an unsafe product.
The Ministry will now be authorized to apply administrative fines between TRY 50.000 and TRY 500.000 (for the year 2021) to those who sell unsafe products. In addition to the fines, access to a webpage that sell unsafe products may also be blocked by the Ministry.
As per the Law, the obligations and liabilities of manufacturers, importers, authorised representatives and distributors regarding product safety have been defined separately. The main obligations of these actors are as follows:

Manufacturer’s obligations:

Placing the products on the market in accordance with the product safety legislation, taking necessary measures regarding existing risks,
Preparing a technical file when necessary, conducting conformity assessment procedures and keeping this file records during the specified time period in legislation and at least 10 years in any case,
Informing the distributors about the recording and monitoring activities of their products in the market in consideration of the specific risks of the respective products,
In cases where it has come to the manufacturer’s attention or it should reasonably have come to the manufacturer’s attention that a product placed in the market is not in compliance with the legislation; ensuring compliance of such product, ceasing the placement of the product in the market or withdrawing/recalling the product from the market,