Importing from Turkey: trade agreement documents explained

Who this is for

You buy textiles from Denizli, machinery from Bursa or food from Gaziantep, or you sell British goods to a Turkish distributor, and the folder that arrives with each consignment is half in Turkish. You want to know which of those papers matter, which are historical habit, and where a translation is worth paying for. This is a document guide, not customs advice: classification, duty, valuation and tax are for your customs agent and your accountant, and we say nothing about them.

What changed on 1 January 2021

For decades goods moved between Türkiye and the United Kingdom under the EU–Türkiye customs union, and the A.TR movement certificate was the paper that carried that status. When the transition period ended, the UK left that customs union, and the A.TR ceased to give preference in UK–Türkiye trade. A bilateral agreement between the two countries took its place, under which preferential origin is claimed by an origin declaration made out on the invoice or another commercial document rather than by the old certificate. Negotiations towards a broader, updated agreement have been running since, and the terms may change; the government publishes the agreement documents and guidance in one place, and your customs agent will know what is current on the day you import. Five years on we still see suppliers attaching an A.TR out of habit, and importers assuming it does something.

The papers a Turkish supplier sends

• Ticari fatura — the commercial invoice, which carries the origin declaration wording where preference is claimed. See Turkish invoices and proformas.
• Çeki listesi — the packing list, with weights, dimensions and carton counts.
• Menşe şahadetnamesi — the certificate of origin issued by a Turkish chamber of commerce. This is a different animal from a preferential origin declaration; it is used for non-preferential origin and by some buyers and banks as a matter of contract. The certificate of origin page explains the layout.
• Transport documents — CMR consignment note, bill of lading or air waybill, largely in English already.
• Sağlık sertifikası, analiz raporu, TSE belgeleri — health certificates, analysis reports and test certificates for food, cosmetics and regulated goods.
• Company documents — ticaret sicil gazetesi and faaliyet belgesi, which you should ask for before the first order, not after a dispute.
• Sözleşme — the supply or distribution contract, and any Turkish-language annexes to it.

What actually needs translating

Less than the folder suggests. Customs declarations are made in English by your agent from data, not from translated documents, and invoices from established exporters are usually issued in English already. The translations that earn their cost are these: the contract and its annexes, because that is what governs the relationship and Turkish annexes have a habit of contradicting English main texts; technical files, test reports and safety data sheets, where compliance depends on the wording; your supplier’s company documents, for due diligence, credit insurance and bank checks; product labelling and manuals; and anything a UK authority asks to see during a check, which is when a certified translation with our company details, the date and a signature becomes useful. If a document exists in English and Turkish, check the two against each other before assuming they say the same thing; discrepancies between the language versions of a Turkish contract are common and expensive.

Going the other way

Exporting to Türkiye reverses the burden. Your invoice and origin declaration travel in English, but the Turkish importer, the customs broker and the market rules will want Turkish for the things a customer or an inspector reads: user manuals, warranty terms, labels, safety data sheets and, for regulated goods, conformity documentation. Turkish consumer legislation requires product information to be supplied in Turkish, and how that applies to your product is a question for your importer or a Turkish lawyer. Distributor agreements, agency contracts and any document that will be filed with a Turkish authority need Turkish, and where it goes to a registry, notary or court it will need a translation notarised in Türkiye rather than a UK certified one; see notarised translation in Türkiye.

Timing and fees

• Turkish into English from £10 per page of 1,000 characters; English into Turkish from £6.50. Certification is included in both.
• A supply contract of ten to fifteen pages typically costs £100–150 and takes two to three working days; a certificate of origin or activity certificate is one page.
• Large catalogues, manuals and repetitive technical files are quoted with translation memory and, where suitable, post-editing, which brings the rate down substantially.
• Urgent handling adds 60 per cent, with a same-day cut-off at 11:00 UK time. No UK VAT is charged.

Mistakes we see

• Paying for an A.TR that gives no preference in UK trade, and not obtaining the origin declaration that would.
• Signing a bilingual contract without having the Turkish version read, then discovering the governing-language clause points at it.
• Confusing the chamber-issued certificate of origin with a preferential origin declaration; they answer different questions.
• Leaving the technical file untranslated until a market-surveillance query arrives.
• Assuming a translator can confirm that goods qualify for preference. We translate the declaration; whether the goods meet the origin rules is for the exporter and your agent.

Where we stop

We translate commercial, technical and legal documents in both directions and certify them where a bank, an authority or a court needs it. We do not classify goods, calculate duty, complete customs declarations, or advise on tariffs, VAT or any other tax. Those questions go to a customs agent, a freight forwarder or an accountant, and the honest answer to most of them changes with the trade agreement.