US embassy cable - 04ANKARA2214

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 002214 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR NP/RA - JULIET SMITH, EB/TRA AND EUR/SE 
ROME FOR FAA AND ICE 
PARIS FOR TSA 
DHS FOR TSA 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAIR, PARM, PREL, EWWT, KNNP, TU 
SUBJECT:  TURKISH LAWS REGARDING CARGO HANDLING 
 
 
Ref:  State 55415 
 
 
1.  The Turkish Customs Undersecretariat provided 
information in response to questions on cargo handling 
posed in reftel.  The following is an informal Embassy 
translation of Customs' written response. 
 
 
2.  Begin Embassy Translation of Customs U/S Note: 
 
 
Shipping/Cargo Manifests: 
 
 
Cargo manifests are required in connection with the 
shipment of goods on board while ships, trains, and 
aircraft are departing the country, and entering the 
country.  The vehicles, which are subject to cargo 
manifests, should be inspected by the Turkish Customs 
authorities according to the law. 
 
 
Those vessels transiting Turkey's territorial sea should 
proceed directly towards their target destination without 
stopping and being in connection with other ships.  These 
ships cannot be stopped unless emergencies or "force- 
majeure" conditions. These ships  - if they have to stop - 
can only stop at a port where a customs authority is 
located.  Transit ships are governed under the Montreux 
Agreement and according to the "Most-Favored-Nation" rule 
cannot be subject to an inspection. Transits are watched 
from outside. 
 
 
Otherwise, loads of vessels and all related documents are 
inspected. If required, the goods in port warehouses can 
be sealed. 
 
 
Turkey takes all the precautions, and inspects during 
loading and unloading process from vessels or aircraft. 
Turkish authorities are fully in control to prevent any 
illegal loading activity for goods and passengers of 
transits. 
 
 
Unless there a suspicious situation or a warning exists, 
those vessels entering into the Straits are inspected at 
their destination port. If a formal request is received 
from the warning side, owner and/or agent of the vessel, 
for the inspection to be made before arrival at the 
destination, then the request is evaluated by the related 
Coast Guard. The action is performed if the request is 
found suitable.  The Guard detects any unusual situation 
and/or a suspected violation, and an official report is 
prepared. 
 
 
Turkey's law does not permit officials from another 
country, even with the consent of Turkey, to detain 
individuals on vessels operating under Turkey's flag in 
country's territorial sea. 
 
 
Customs authorities at the airports are in charge of the 
inspection of incoming and outgoing carriers. 
 
 
The following rules should be met, for all carriers 
traveling to and from Turkey: 
 
 
A) All vehicles should enter into and depart from Turkey 
from the Customs gates. 
B) All air carriers should land on and take off from an 
airport where a customs authority exists. 
C) Any vessel entering into Turkish sea territory cannot 
change its original route unless an extraordinary 
situation, or a "force-majeure" condition exists. 
 
 
At least 3 hours before vessels' arrival to and departure 
from Turkish ports, the owner or the agent should inform 
Turkish Customs Administration. 
 
 
The information should include all call cargo details; 
i.e. number of passengers, size of cargo, 
arrival/departure time, taxi period, arrival port.  Unless 
this information is received, the Customs authority does 
not permit the vessel to taxi or depart.   Vessels can 
leave the port after Customs officials complete the 
inspection. 
 
 
The vessel can be searched under a warning or a violation 
is detected.  The inspection is registered by an official 
documentation. 
 
 
If the vessel stops at more than one port within  Turkish 
territory, all passengers and cargo are subject to Customs 
control at all these ports. 
Captains of the ships arriving to the port or departing 
the port must fill in the questionnaire provided in the 
Customs Regulation Annex 8 and must submit the 
questionnaire to the customs authority of the port. 
In the case where the final point of arrival is not a 
Turkish port or airport, ships or aircraft transiting 
Turkish territorial waters or air space, or goods brought 
to Turkish Customs Region, except the ones loaded in 
aircraft, must be handled in accordance with the 
procedures and essentials identified by the 
Undersecretariat as follows: 
 
 
A) They must be taken to a determined customs office or a 
place found appropriate by the customs office, 
B) They must be taken directly to a free zone via sea or 
air or via highway without passing through a Turkish 
Customs Region. 
 
 
The person, who brought the goods to the Turkish Customs 
Region, or the person, who assumes the transfer of the 
goods after arrival, must submit the goods to customs by 
bringing them to the customs office or to the place 
determined by the customs office in accordance with the 
procedures and essentials identified by the 
Undersecretariat. 
 
 
Customs is notified that the goods, which entered into the 
Turkish Customs Region, are brought to customs office or 
to a place determined or found suitable by the customs 
office.  This process is called "submission to  customs". 
 
 
After submission to customs, general information related 
to the vehicle and the goods submitted to the customs are 
declared in accordance with the form in Customs Regulation 
Annex 9, this is called "summary declaration".  The 
original manifest or main consignment must be attached to 
the summary declaration. 
 
 
A summary declaration is submitted to the related customs 
office by the close of business of the  day following 
submission of the goods  customs. It is also possible that 
the summary declaration is registered to the customs 
office before the vehicle arrives in the Turkish Customs 
Region. In this case, the approval procedures for the 
summary declaration, where the vehicle is registered 
before its arrival to customs area, are not performed. 
 
 
Instead of the summary declaration, in the case a document 
such as original manifest, consignment, CMR, CIM, CIV, TIR 
card or Free Zone Operation Form is submitted by the 
carrier or representative, that document is also accepted 
as a summary declaration. However, in the offices where 
the customs operations are computerized, the carrier or 
the representative must register the summary declaration 
by using the software system, without the obligation to 
take hard copies. 
 
 
The goods brought to Turkish Customs Region are unloaded 
under the control of customs. An unloading list is 
prepared by sea, land and air vehicle owners, or captain, 
pilot, driver or authorized personnel of the agency and 
temporary storage place administrative officials within 24 
hours after unloading of the goods, and it is signed by 
the customs official and vehicle owner, driver or 
representative and the temporary storage place official. 
 
 
The kind of goods and their gross weight, number, kind, 
brand and number of containers, name of the vehicle and 
trip number are indicated in the unloading list. 
 
 
The summary declaration or information presented in 
commercial or official documents used as summary document 
and submitted to the customs by the owners of the 
vehicles, captains or agencies, is compared with the 
unloading list prepared during the unloading process. If a 
discrepancy is seen, it is noted on the summary 
declaration or documents used as summary declaration, and 
an official report is prepared related to the situation 
which will lead to investigation of absence/excess in 
summary declaration. 
 
 
The goods, which are listed in the summary declaration but 
not in the unloading list, are considered a mistake in the 
summary declaration. The goods, which are listed in the 
unloading list but not in the summary declaration, are 
considered an over-declaration. 
 
 
Goods Departing Turkish Customs Region 
 
 
The goods departing Turkish Customs Region are subject to 
the controls made by customs offices according to the 
legislation, and are deported under customs control 
according to the methods set previously. 
 
 
Before the vehicle sets off, the carrier or 
representatives submit summary declaration related to the 
goods departing Turkish Customs Region to the customs 
office. 
 
 
However, for the exports made via sea, summary declaration 
may be submitted by the close of business of the day after 
the ship departs. In this case, summary declaration, 
statement and transportation bill are compared and, if 
found appropriate, the summary declaration and statement 
are closed. In case of a discrepancy between statement and 
transportation bills, a fixed fine is charged for the 
cases other than discrepancies in type, variety, quality, 
quantity and value of the goods, and for differences not 
exceeding 5 percent surplus in the tax accrual resulting 
from type, variety and quality. 
END INFORMAL EMBASSY TRANSLATION. 
EDELMAN