A New Step for Market Surveillance and Inspection in E-Commerce
Introduction
In the rapidly digitalizing world, e-commerce is spreading rapidly, strengthening the impact of sales made via the Internet and traditional channels. According to the Ministry of Trade data for 2023, Türkiye's e-commerce volume increased by 115.15% compared to the previous year, reaching 1.85 trillion Turkish liras[1] .
The rapid growth in e-commerce underscores the importance of market surveillance and inspection in ensuring the safety of products for consumers. Under Turkish law, products supplied on the market must meet minimum safety standards regarding human health, safety of life and property, environment, and consumer protection. Although significant steps have been taken in recent years to strengthen the legal infrastructure in e-commerce, the need for specific legal regulations and international harmonization in market surveillance and inspection has been growing. In response to this need, the Ministry of Trade (Ministry) published the Regulation on Market Surveillance and Inspection of Products Supplied on the Market through Remote Communication Tools (Regulation) in the Official Gazette dated 30.10.2024.
This article aims to is to provide a general framework within the scope of the obligations of different economic actors, the conditions for supplying products on the market, and the duties and responsibilities of competent authorities stipulated under the Regulation, which will enter into force as of 01.04.2025.
Legal Framework of the Regulation and its Relationship with Key Product Safety Legislation
Initially, the Regulation contains provisions in parallel with the provisions on e-commerce of the General Product Safety Regulation, which was published on 23.05.2023 to increase the safety of non-food products in the European Union and entered into full force as of 13.12.2024.
Within the scope of the Regulation, important responsibilities are imposed on different economic actors in terms of products supplied to the market or made available on the market through remote communication tools such as phone, letter, and e-mail as well as the internet. In addition, the Regulation also regulates the supply conditions to the market, the obligation to provide information within the scope of sales advertisements, and the duties and responsibilities of competent authorities. Notably, the Regulation affects every real and legal person who supplies products to the market through remote communication without any threshold.
The Regulation was prepared based on Article 24 of the Product Safety and Technical Regulations Law No. 7223 (Law No. 7223) and Article 33 of the Framework Regulation on Market Surveillance and Inspection of Products (Product Safety Framework Regulation). These regulations clearly state that the Ministry will determine the procedures and principles regarding market surveillance and inspection in e-commerce..
Furthermore, the obligations of economic operators under Law No. 7223, the Product Safety Framework Regulation, and other relevant legislation (Relevant Legislation) are reserved for the products covered by the Regulation.
Key Principles Introduced by the Regulation
Condition of supplying on the market or availability on the market
The Regulation underscores that products must adhere to the stipulated technical regulations and the General Product Safety Regulation to be supplied or made available on the market in Türkiye. For a product to be considered as made available on the market, the economic operator must target end-users residing in Türkiye. Specific criteria outline the conditions under which sales facilitated through distance communication tools will be regarded as targeting resident end-users. Specifically, sales that meet at least one of the following criteria: (i) The Turkish language option, (ii) the option to display the price in Turkish lira, (iii) the option to accept payment in Turkish lira, (iv) the option to make shipments to addresses in Türkiye, (v) physical delivery to end-users in Türkiye, or (vi) the domain name for sales over the internet is registered in geographical areas where shipment to Türkiye is possible, are deemed to target an end-user resident in Türkiye.
However, for products within the scope of some technical regulations (Important Products) determined by the Ministry in a list to be available for sale in our country, there must be an economic operator resident in Türkiye. The economic operator is an umbrella concept used in the regulation and refers to the manufacturer, importer or authorized representative. If these persons or institutions are unavailable, a performance service provider resident in Türkiye may also assume this role. When the legislation in the list are analyzed, it is seen that the technical regulations of Important Products that may affect the environment and consumer health are included. With this provision, it can be evaluated that the legislator is trying to determine an interlocutor especially for the products of special importance that are to be supplied to the market from abroad.
Criteria for sale advertisement
To facilitate market surveillance, the Regulation requires economic operators selling via remote communication tools to include clear and understandable information about the product in their sales advertisements. Sales advertisements must consist of the name, trade name and contact information of the manufacturer or importer of the product in Türkiye. In addition, safety warnings, conformity markings, photographs and identifying information about the product in Turkish must be included. Depending on the communication tool used during the product’s sale, this information must be provided to the end user in written or verbal form.
Obligations of Economic Operators
Obligations of the Authorized Representative
First of all, it should be noted that an authorized representative is a real or legal resident in Türkiye who is appointed in writing by the manufacturer to fulfill certain obligations under the Relevant Legislation on its behalf. Authorized representatives are obliged to provide contact information such as name, trade name or trademark and full address to the end-user on the product, its packaging or accompanying documents in a manner that is easily visible, indelible or not misleading to the end user when no manufacturer or importer is residing in Türkiye in terms of Important Products.
Obligations of the Performance Service Provider
Performance service providers, as defined in the Regulation, are legal or real persons who provide at least two storage, packaging, addressing and transportation services without taking ownership of the product. Performance service providers are considered to be distributors if their activities do not directly affect the product’s safety and they are not identified as manufacturers, importers or authorized representatives. However, if the performance service provider places its name or trademark on the product, modifies the product contrary to the technical regulations or performs an operation affecting its safety, they are considered as manufacturers and held responsible for the manufacturer’s obligations.
For Important Products, where there is no manufacturer, importer or authorized representative located in Türkiye, performance service providers assume additional responsibilities. These responsibilities include stating their name, trade name or trademark and full address on the product or, where possible, on its packaging. They are also obliged to keep the declarations of conformity or performance and technical dossiers for the period specified by the Relevant Legislation, to submit them to the competent authority when necessary and to provide documentation of the conformity of the product.
Performance service providers must inform the competent authority immediately when they learn or should have known that the product carries a risk. In case of non-compliance, they must cooperate with the competent authority to take corrective measures and, if the risk cannot be eliminated, they must take the necessary steps to eliminate the risk the product carries.
Obligations of the Intermediary Service Provider
Intermediary service providers have extensive obligations to ensure product safety on online platforms. In addition to providing an e-commerce environment for products to be supplied on the market, intermediary service providers must also comply with obligations set out for economic operators if they fall into this category.
- Design of the online interface by the obligation to provide information: For each product placed on the market on their platform, the intermediary service provider must ensure that the information on the economic operator and product safety referred to in Article 6 of the Regulation is visible and accessible.
- Prompt responses to requests of the competent authority: The removal of content and other requests of the competent authority must be fulfilled within 24 hours. The competent authority must also be informed of the outcome of the action taken.
- Removing or blocking access to product content: If an intermediary service provider becomes aware that a product is non-compliant, it must immediately remove it from the platform or block access to it and notify the competent authority. Furthermore, measures should be implemented to prevent the recurrence of non-compliant content on the platform.
- Designation of a product safety point of contact: Intermediary service providers should designate a safety contact point for product safety-related requests and ensure end-users can easily access this point. They should also inform the competent authorities and the Directorate General for Product Safety and Inspection about the contact point.
- Notification to end-users in the event of a recall of a non-compliant product: If a product is recalled due to non-conformity, the intermediary service provider is obliged to immediately notify all end-users who have purchased the product from its platform via the platform and by e-mail. The notification shall be based on the information provided in the announcement made by the economic operator regarding the product’s recall.
- Maintaining the information of economic operators: the intermediary service provider is obliged to keep the information on the previous and, if any, the next economic operator in the supply chain and the necessary records of the product for a minimum of ten years. The provider shall provide this information upon request of the competent authority.
- Obligation to cooperate: Through their services, they must cooperate with competent authorities in eliminating or reducing the risks associated with products offered for sale electronically.
Duties and Responsibilities of Competent Authorities
The Regulation also clarifies the duties, powers and responsibilities of the competent authorities that differ within the framework of the technical legislation of the products. In this context, the duties, powers and responsibilities regulated within the framework of the Relevant Legislation, and the issues determined by the Regulation, will also apply to the products supplied on the market through remote communication tools. Competent authorities are responsible for inspecting the safety of the products provided on the market using remote communication tools and their compliance with the relevant technical regulations. Inspection is carried out by purchasing products anonymously through remote communication tools such as internet, radio and television and these products are examined as samples. If a product is non-compliant, the competent authority asks the economic operator to take appropriate and proportionate corrective measures.
The Regulation outlines various sanction procedures if a non-compliant product is supplied on the market, depending on the means of communication through which the product is supplied. If a product supplied on the market or made available on the internet is determined to be non-compliant, the competent authority will notify the intermediary service providers to remove the content within 24 hours. Should the content not be removed, or should the product be re-listed, the competent authority may decide to block access to the content. Implementing this decision is the responsibility of the Information and Communication Technologies Authority. If a non-compliant product is being detected in the promotion or sales made over television and radio, the competent authority shall request that the media service provider cease this promotion or sale. The media service provider must cooperate with the competent authority to suspend the promotion and sale. The decision to suspend the sale will be reported to the Radio and Television Supreme Council.
Another obligation imposed on competent authorities by the Regulation is to investigate whether products found to be non-compliant during market surveillance and inspection activities and products registered as non-compliant by other countries on international platforms are available on the Turkish market.
However, the competent authority is authorized to warn the economic operator who does not comply with the content required to be included in the sales advertisements electronically or in writing to eliminate the non-conformity. If the economic operator fails to remedy the non-compliance within two business days or if the competent authority cannot reach the economic operator, a risk assessment of the product shall be made by the reference to Law No. 7223. If there is an indication of serious risk, measures such as temporary suspension of the product’s supply on the market until the product control is completed or, removal of the content related to the product from the online interface may be applied. In addition, the competent authority may request the intermediary service provider or economic operator to display a warning or message for consumers on the interface until the risk is eliminated.
Administrative Sanctions
For each actor who acts in violation of the provisions of the Regulation, reference is made to the administrative sanctions determined under the provisions of the Relevant Legislation.
Conclusion
In conclusion, with the rapidly growing impact of e-commerce, product safety and market surveillance issues are becoming more important. In Türkiye, the new Regulation issued by the Ministry of Trade introduces comprehensive regulations to ensure the safety of products sold on e-commerce platforms or through other means of remote communication. The Regulation targets not only domestic economic actors but also economic operators selling products from abroad, and sets out responsibilities for safely placing products on the market. These developments, which align with similar regulations in the European Union, reflect the evolution of legal frameworks aimed at enhancing e-commerce security globally.
- Ministry of Trade's E-Commerce Outlook Report in Türkiye dated 27 May 2024.
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