The Ministry of Trade ("Ministry") introduced amendments to monetary thresholds and fines in customs legislation and the date of temporary limitation concerning applications for authorized operator certificates with the (i) Customs General Communiqué (Customs Transactions) (Serial No: 181) and (ii) the Regulation Amending the Regulation on Facilitating Customs Procedures.
- Customs General Communiqué (Customs Transactions) (Serial No: 181)
The Customs General Communiqué (Customs Transactions) (Serial No: 181) ("Communiqué"), which will enter into force on 1 January 2022, amends the irregularity penalty in Customs Law No. 4458 ("Customs Law"), wages set forth in the Decision on the Implementation of Certain Provisions of the Law ("Decision") and monetary thresholds stipulated under the Customs Regulation. The Communiqué is available here (in Turkish).
With the Communiqué, the irregularity penalty that is imposed for violations of the provisions of the Customs Law and secondary legislation in which it is clearly set forth, is determined asTRY 235 (approximately USD 20).
In addition, hourly overtime wages within the scope of the Decision are determined as (i) TRY 21.83 (approximately USD 2) for exports, TRY 50.99 (approximately USD 4) for other transactions and (ii) TRY 50.99 (approximately USD 4) for exports per truck for trucks with Turkish license plates and TRY 80.14 (approximately USD 7) for other transactions.
Lastly, the competent authorities for refund or annulment of customs duties are as follows: (i) the customs directorates are authorized for transactions up to TRY 742,000 (approximately USD 63,288), (ii) customs and foreign trade regional directorates are authorized for transactions up to TRY 7,429,000 (approximately USD 633,648), and (iii) the Ministry is authorized for transactions over TRY 7,429,000 (approximately USD 633,648).
- Regulation Amending the Regulation on Facilitating Customs Procedures
The period of temporary limitation for authorized operator certificate applications has been extended from 31 December 2021 to 31 December 2024 with this regulation, which entered into force on 17 December 2021. The regulation is available here (in Turkish).
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.