The concept of protecting consumers is not only protecting their economic interests but also their health and security, as the Market Surveillance Activities (PGD) conducted by our Ministry suggest.

Our Ministry is responsible for the security provision of indispensable parts of our consumers’ daily lives such as child care articles, textile, shoes, furniture, stationery, toys, toothbrushes, wet wipes, and detergents.

Our Ministry prefers to act proactively and prioritize preventive activities instead of intervening after a problem occurs.            

Our mission is to make sure that the products under the supervision of our Ministry, let them be domestic or in the importing process, are 100% safe in terms of the safety of life and property and conform to the requisites.

Our Ministry has adopted the principle of simplifying the regulations to make the beneficiaries a part of the active inspections, create an audit and supervisory system in collaboration with the manufacturers, consumers, and other shareholders, and adoption of a consumer-oriented presentation of service in order to ensure a dynamic and active inspection mechanism.

In terms of PGD, the primary concern of our Ministry is to eliminate the potential risks in products intended to be used by whom we call “sensitive users,” such as babies, children, and pupils. The protection of the brands that conform to production standards and the prevention of unfair competition are among our priorities as well. The motto of our Ministry in market surveillance is “ZERO TOLERANCE FOR UNSAFE PRODUCTS,” and all our activities are based on this principle.

Another important product safety practice of our Ministry is the product safety tests conducted during the import process.
 

In order to install an efficient PGD system and to support the inspections made in the domestic market during the import with inspections; our Ministry has developed GTB-IRIS (Risk-Based Inspection Control System). Developed by our Ministry to ensure the inspections during the import process are registered electronically and risk-based, GTB-IRIS has been launched on May 2, 2016. The system has been announced on the Official Gazette No. 29699 dated April 30, 2016, under the title “Communiqué on Import of Certain Consumer Products to Control of Ministry of Customs and Trade.”

The aim of this system to run the product safety inspections online during the import process based on risk-analysis with the perception of modern social services. Based on the risk analyses, the risky products that are subject to import are determined electronically by GTB-IRIS and the inspections are intensified on these products.

All the operations of our importers are performed electronically, and products that are considered risky are accepted only after their safety test reports taken from an accredited laboratory are submitted to the system. Thanks to these operations performed completely free of charge prior to the registration of the bill of entry, our importers have the opportunity to complete their duties in a short while without having to pay. On the other hand, since the mentioned system is integrated with the Single Window Service of our Ministry, the bureaucracy our importers will be facing at the customs are decreased since no document will be requested.

There is also a large database on importers and goods, which directs the inspections to the industries and products that are considered as risky depending on the information gathered on this system. Our Ministry makes regulations based on the EU legislations and works to keep the regulations up to date within the scope of international improvements. We also strictly follow the practices related to toxic chemicals around the world. First of its kind in terms of the field, it regulates and the security criteria it brings, the “Communiqué on Market Supervision and Control for Hazardous Chemical Content of some Consumer Products” went into effect on 14 January 2015, and restricted new chemicals. This communiqué has been prepared to protect our consumers, especially children, from the harms of hazardous chemicals. Thanks to this communiqué, our consumers are protected from 10 hazardous chemicals such as azo-dyes and phthalate that can be found in consumer products.

Prepared harmonizing the relevant EU directives and regulations by our Ministry, the “Communiqué Pertaining to Determination of the Security Risks of Consumer Products” dated 20 April 2012 makes the content requirements of chemical, physical, and mechanical specifications clear. In these regulations, the limit values regarding chemical substances and the harmonized physical and mechanical specification requirement standards that relevant products have to conform with can be found.

In order to regulate the procedures and principles regarding the relevant standard controls of some product groups that are listed in a field our Ministry has not regulated, the “Communiqué on Control of Some Consumer Products for Conformity” has been published in the Official Gazette on 3 May 2016.

Conformity of products such as the ones mentioned below is evaluated considering the harmonized or reference standards stated in the Communiqué:

-Stationary or portable cribs

-Pacifiers for babies and infants

-Drinking equipment (for babies and infants)
-Swimming aids

-High chairs for children
 

The provisions of the aforementioned communiqué on pacifiers and toothbrushes are to come into effect on the date they are announced, while the rest are allowed for until 1 January 2017 as a transition period.

As the communiqué comes into effect, the “Communiqué on the Production, Importation, Market Surveillance and Control of Products Such as Pacifiers, Feeding Bottles and Teats, Sippy Cups and Teats” published on the Official Gazette No. 28807 dated 31 October 2017 is repealed.

As known, the PGD authority and responsibility of products such as pacifiers and feeding bottles were transferred to our Ministry on 31 October 2017. The practice of notifying our Ministry by the manufacturers or importers prior to the supply of the mentioned products to the market was made free in regard to the mission of “easy trade” of our Ministry.

On the other hand, in order to conform to the European Union practices, the practice of notification prior to the supply to the market is ended as the “Communiqué on Control of Some Consumer Products for Conformity” came into effect.

Finally, the cooperation of manufacturers and importers who are among the most important partners of the investigations led by our Ministry play a significant role in decreasing the risks of unsafe products. As the Ministry, we expect support and cooperation from all our partners and wish you all success in your businesses.