One of FESI’s members has kindly shared the recently published guidance from the Turkish authorities regarding the new labelling requirement for leather products (see downloadable document below).

Below are the key takeaways:

• Products must clearly indicate the specific animal from which the material is sourced.
• This information must appear on the product, its packaging, or in an accompanying document.
• For online sales, the same information must be shown on the product detail page.
• General signage in stores or on websites is not sufficient - the information must be product-specific.
• Non-compliance may result in fines ranging from 138,498 TRY to 1,384,989 TRY (approx. €3,000 to €31,000).

As we understand it, compliance checks take place at two stages:

1. At Customs, during potential TAREKS inspections - labels must already be in place at this point.
2. In stores, for goods that bypass inspection - labels must be affixed before the products reach consumers.

We welcome the publication of this guidance, which responds to one of our key policy asks. However, we want to ensure the document provides all necessary clarifications.

If you believe any areas remain unclear, please contact katy.stevens@europeanoutdoorgroup.com as soon as possible, as we are currently updating our briefing paper on trade irritants in Turkey.

Please also note that while this guidance is helpful, we will continue advocating for the simplification of this requirement.

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