Implementation Guideline of the Regulation on Market Surveillance and Inspection of Products Supplied on the Market through Remote Communication Tools
The Regulation on Market Surveillance and Inspection of Products Supplied on the Market through Remote Communication Tools (Regulation) is published in the Official Gazette dated 30.10.2024 and numbered 32707, and entered into force on 01.04.2025.
The Regulation set out the conditions for supplying products on the market through remote communication tools, the obligations related to product safety, and the responsibilities of economic operators, intermediary service providers and competent authorities. You may access the full Turkish text of the Regulation here, and our client alert providing detailed explanations regarding the Regulation, here.
To ensure the effective implementation of the relevant provisions in the Regulation, the Implementation Guideline of the Regulation on Market Surveillance and Inspection of Products Supplied on the Market through Remote Communication Tools (Guideline) was published by the Ministry of Trade on 27.03.2025. The Guideline provides detailed explanations regarding the obligation to appoint an economic operator resident in Türkiye and the obligations concerning sale advertisement in electronic commerce. It clarifies the responsibilities of the actors within the e-commerce ecosystem through illustrative examples, as regulated under the Regulation.
The significant issues stipulated in the Guideline are summarized below:
- The Regulation stipulates that certain products cannot be made available on the market through remote communication tools unless an economic operator is resident in Türkiye. The Guideline clarifies how such an economic operator may be appointed.
- The concept of economic operator is examined with the help of a flowchart through the supply chain. Without a manufacturer resident in Türkiye, the authorized representative, importer or performance service provider resident in Türkiye is deemed the economic operator and becomes subject to the relevant obligations.
- It is emphasized that the obligation to appoint an economic operator resident in Türkiye also applies to products sold through intermediary service providers; however, such obligation does not apply to online marketplaces that only provide intermediation services to third-party sellers.
- The roles of economic operators under product-specific legislation and their relation to the obligations regulated within the scope of the Regulation are clarified.
- All obligations introduced under the Regulation apply independently from the responsibilities imposed on economic operators under product-specific legislation. The Guideline explicitly sets out the differences in implementation. Accordingly, even if certain obligations such as risk notification or labeling are not included under the product-specific legislation, economic operators are must still comply with these obligations under the Regulation.
- The Guideline also states that competent authorities for market surveillance and import inspections, should adopt a risk-based approach when determining which documents to use, to inspect the products.
- The information to be included in sale advertisements depending on the type of economic operator is presented in the form of a diagram. Accordingly, the name, registered trade name and brand of the economic operator, along with its postal and e-mail address, must be included in the sale advertisement.
- The Guideline also includes answers to frequently asked questions at the end.
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