Technical Regulations about Products

 

Legislative background for technical regulations

 

In 2001, Law on the Preparation and Implementation of Technical Legislation on Products No.4703 entered into force in Turkey. The Law no. 4703 is a very general law, which sets ground for all technical regulations and legislations about products from mobile phones to toys, from chargers to all wearable products.

This Law outlines the principles and procedures regarding to placing on the market, conformity assessment, and market surveillance of the products. It also outlines the responsibilities of manufacturers, importers and distributors about products. Conformity assessment bodies, notified bodies, market surveillance of products (stop of sales, collection of products from the market and disposal of products) are also subject of this Law.

The Law no. 4703 says that technical regulations about products are to be prepared by the public authorities who are legally authorised to prepare and implement regulations about products which fall into field of their responsibilities.

The aim of technical regulations must be limited with the protection of public interests such as protection of human health, safety of life and property, environment, health of animals and plants, protection of consumers, ensuring efficient use of energy. These regulations should also not restrict competition in trade.

According to Article 5 of Law no. 4703, goods which are to be placed on the market must conform with related technical regulations. This rule is also applied on the products which are old and used or refurbished. This Article 5 also says that manufacturers and importers can only place safe products. Products which comply with related regulation(s) are accepted as ‘safe product’.

Manufacturers or importers must hold all technical documents about products at their hands (beginning from the manufacture or import date of the last product) for the period of time which is determined by the related regulation. In case it is requested, manufacturers or importers must present these documents to the related public authorities.

According to Article 10 of Law no. 4703, market surveillance activities are done by public authorities in accordance with the rules and procedures mentioned in the related directives.

Measures

In case it is detected by the public authority that the product controlled is not safe, public authority must apply below measures. The costs of below measures must be incurred by the manufacturer.

1. Stop of sales in the market
2. Collection of products from the market
3. In case it is not possible to make the product safe, the disposal of products
4. Ensure that consumers are well informed about the measures applied and the risks the products bear. In case the announce activity of manufacturer is not enough, the public authority should make announcement on minimum 2 newspapers and 2 television channels which make countrywide broadcasting.

Sanctions

 

The fine amounts are applicable for the year 2019. The fine amount is increased for every year with the re-evaluation rate.

5. For importers or manufacturers who place products which are not compliant with related technical regulations, an administrative fine for an amount between 5.664 TL and 70.816 TL is applied.
6. For importers or manufacturers who place unsafe products on the market, an administrative fine for the amount between 26.910 TL and 354.084 TL is applied.
7. For importers or manufacturers who don’t give consumers enough information about safety risks of products,who don’t take necessary actions including collection and disposal of products in order to avoid safety risks, an administrative fine for the amount between 5.664 TL and 106.224 TL is applied.
8. For importers or manufacturers who don’t hold and present technical documents of products to the public authorities, an administrative fine for the amount between 5.664 TL and 35.407 TL is applied.
9. For distributors who place unsafe products on the market, despite they know they are not safe, an administrative fine for the amount between 2.832 TL and 56.653 TL is applied.
10. For those who distort or imitate the signs and technical documents, administrative fine for the amount between 14.163 TL and 106.224 TL is applied.

List of product categories and public authorities who prepare and implement technical regulations

 

Below list is a sample of product categories and related public authorities.

PRODUCT CATEGORY	PUBLIC AUTHORITY	RELATED DIRECTIVE
Radio and Telecommunication Terminal Equipment including mobile phones, modems, computers	Information Technologies and Communication Authority (BTK)	Radio and Telecommunication Terminal Equipment Directive (R&TTE) Radio Equipment Directive (RED)
Batteries and accumulators	Ministry of Environment	Directive about Control of Waste Batteries and Accumulators
Machines	Ministry of Industry and Technology	The Machinery Directive (MD)
Electrical Equipment Within Certain Voltage Limits	Ministry of Industry and Technology	Low Voltage Directive (LVD)
Products which create or get influenced from electromagnetic field	Ministry of Industry and Technology	Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (EMC)
Lift Safety Components	Ministry of Industry and Technology	Lifts Directive
Electric Motors, Household Lamps, Electric Bulbs, Armatures, Air Conditioners,  Ventilators, Hoovers, Water Pumps	Ministry of Industry and Technology	Ecodesign Directive Energy Labelling Directive

 

• Controlling and correction of the goods and related documents in order to guarantee the Compliance of the goods with the product safety rules and technical regulation provisions

• Control of technical file of the devices (CE declaration of conformity, notified body opinion, test reports, user manual, etc.) in order to ensure TAREKS approval process and Market Surveillance process

• Preparation and Control of Warranty Certificate

• Preparation and Control of User Manual

• Controlling product and packaging labels