Revised Draft of Turkish Product Safety Law Published

The Turkish General Assembly has published a revised draft of the proposed law on product safety. This proposed law aims to recast the general legislative framework on the safety and liability of products circulating within the Turkish market, bringing it into conformity with EU law. This version follows the initial draft of the law published by the Minister of the Economy in 2013 and a revised draft issued upon the law’s submission to the Grand Assembly in 2018.

This proposed law covers all products intended to be supplied to or kept on the market, and includes products intended to be exported to Member States of the European Union. This law will provide general obligations for covered products and, where specific laws for certain products exist, this law will only apply in so far as the provisions of these specific laws do not apply (in similar vein to the EU General Product Safety Directive 2001/95/EC).

Under this proposal, products must comply with applicable technical regulations. Products conforming to technical regulations are subsequently presumed safe and in conformity with this law unless shown otherwise. Where no technical regulation is available, the products safety shall be assessed with regard to general product safety provisions.

This draft law also proposes to establish a general principle of product liability for manufacturers and importers of products which cause harm to persons or property. Such liability will be strictly applied and remediation shall be made through the payment of damages.

Other provisions of this draft law relate to the specific obligations of importers, manufacturers, authorized representatives and distributors. A traceability mechanism is introduced, whereby economic operators are required to keep records of previous/next operators in the supply chain for a period of ten years. Furthermore, provisions are provided in relation to conformity marking and conformity assessment bodies as well as the bodies responsible for supervision and surveillance of this law.

If enacted, this law will enter into force one year following its publication in the Turkish Gazette. Upon entry into force, Law No. 4703/2001 will be repealed. However, technical regulations issued under this law will remain in force until the issuance of the new ones under this proposal.

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