Bonded Warehousing in Turkey

Bonded Warehousing in Turkey According to Customs and local tax legislations it is possible to store import and export goods, which are not customs cleared, in bonded warehouses without paying import duties or revenue taxes or VAT or without being subject to foreign trade policy measures under the security of Turkish Customs. There is no time limit for the goods stored in bonded warehouses. Customs Legislation defines two rough kind of bonded warehouse as : general purposes public bonded warehouse and private purposes bonded warehouses. Our case subject here is public bonded general warehouse available for everybodies called Type (A) in Turkey as per customs legislations. Public bonded general warehouses are available for use of anybody and reserved only for the storage of the goods which are not customs cleared yet. Bonded Warehouses are under official audit, control and survey of Turkish Customs and run by the private warehouse keepers. To store your goods in a Turkish Bonded Warehouse you do not need to establish a company in Turkey but you must get a potential tax payer number from Turkish Tax offices. This doesn’t mean that you would pay any tax, it is only for registry of your company through Turkish Customs network for official declaration of your goods. Any foreigner or foreign company applying to any Turkish Tax Office could get a potential tax payer number and can store his goods in Type (A) bonded warehouse in Turkey. Sure, you have to present some official documents to Tax Office. This Potential Tax Payer number is necessary to define yourself (your address, owners, commercial ID etc.) through electronic data system of Turkey Customs all over Turkey to follow up your inventory under the control of Customs. Bonded warehouse regime in Turkey allow storage of specified imported goods into customs approved and bonded warehouses without paying import duties/taxes for unlimited period of time (normally until such goods to be re-exported or customs cleared for sale in domestic market, till duties/taxes becomes payable for importers. Only domestic local importers are subject to customs and corporate revenue tax. You are not paying any tax as foreign storage leaseholder.) Turkish Customs legislation define the requirements and conditions of a bonded warehouse to be approved and licensed to operate. This normally involves the operators submitting an application to Customs containing detailed drawings of the proposed building, its security features, location, inventory auditing systems, etc. Customs review the application and undertake an on-site visit to verify that the applicant has met all requirements before licensing the leaser/operator of the warehouse. Customs is very rigorous that the areas of the warehouse containing uncleared goods are kept under a double-lock (or three locking) system (one Customs lock and one lock held by the operator and/or one held by warehouse leaser.) The operator must provide security to cover all the total duty/tax to be deferred on the goods stored in the bonded warehouse. According to the Customs Regulation amendment dated 30.09.2020, the calculation of the amount of the letter of guarantee that the Warehouse Operators must give to the Customs Administration will be made as follows: 1.000.000 TL for the ones up to 1.000 m² (horizontal warehouse) or 2.000 m³ (vertical silo). 500.000 TL for every 1.000 m² after 1.000 m² (horizontal warehouse) 500.000 TL for every 2.000 m³ after 2.000 m³ (vertical silo) In case the lump-sum collateral calculated for a warehouse exceeds 20.000.000 TL, the excess amount is not taken into account. But their responsibilities are not limited with above. They are fully responsible under Customs Law (penal code included.) and regulations. But as bonded warehouse leaseholder you have not any responsibility for such a security deposit. It is bonded warehouse operator responsibility. The amount of security required by Official Customs Authorities from the operator depends on the type of goods normally stored in the warehouse, only for the duty/tax liabilities, the security and inventory control systems in place, and the level of compliance. Compliant operators normally rewarded for their compliance by reducing the amount of security to be required in the future. Warehouse enterprises have normally their own insurance but you'd better, as lease holder must have a separate insurance policy against damages, shortages, fire, and theft etc.. Such insurance policy never release liability and responsibilities of warehouse operators. Goods must be under transit control of Turkish Customs from the point to arrival (discharging port, border customs houses.) until entry into the bonded warehouse (see transit control). Goods entering bonded warehouse must be declared to Customs of the relevant district following bonded warehouse customs procedures. Bonded warehouse system requires extensive physical customs controls over the movements of the goods from the vessel(s) to the warehouse(s), discharging and storage of the goods in bonded warehouses (performing inspections where appropriate), maintaining inventory balance of the goods, any operations in bonded warehouses, (e.g., handling as sorting, repacking or packaging, conditioning, ) inspection of the goods to be removed from bonded warehouses and all such kind of transactions are always under the survey of official licenced, sworn private customs consultants who are reporting directly to Customs Authorities . Each A type bonded warehouse must have at least one sworn customs consultant controlling all the transactions of bonded warehouses. Customs authorities have always power to audit them and can check any time accuracy of the official reports and records of these sworn customs consultans. All Type (A) bonded warehouse should have visual camera control and recording systems directly linked to customs 24 hours 7 days a week. They must keep all the cam records for customs controls and checking procedures. Turkey Customs controls over bonded warehouses have extremely strong and warehouse operators (giving their bank guarantees to customs house) and sworn customs consultants are responsible to deliver same quantity and same quality of goods to leasers under the control of customs officers and related official departments (as agriculture dept., quarantine dept., Institut of Turkish Standards., etc.) According to the Customs Regulation amendment dated 30.09.2020, the calculation of the amount of the letter of guarantee that the Warehouse Operators must give to the Customs Administration will be made as follows: 1.000.000 TL for the ones up to 1.000 m² (horizontal warehouse) or 2.000 m³ (vertical silo). 500.000 TL for every 1.000 m² after 1.000 m² (horizontal warehouse) 500.000 TL for every 2.000 m³ after 2.000 m³ (vertical silo) In case the lump-sum collateral calculated for a warehouse exceeds 20.000.000 TL, the excess amount is not taken into account. But their responsibilities are not limited with above. They are fully responsible under Customs Law (penal code included.) and regulations. In Turkey security measures and considerations regarding bonded warehouses is effectively enforced and goods are not allowed to move freely from the warehouse without Customs control. Warehouse operator, sworn customs consultants must report to Customs House regularly every week and month without any delay more than 3 working days. They must keep daily registry books about the inventory of the goods and they must calibrate their weight bridge every 6 months. By a special request you can ask warehouses to calibrate their weighbridges for every 3 months period. But at the end they are responsible to deliver you same goods having same quantity under the control of the customs house through the export, import or transfer declarations approved by customs and related official departments as agriculture quarantine department or Institute of Turkish Standards Departments. Sure, any self damage of the goods as heating and natural damages excepted. They are only responsible about the quantity and soundness of the goods. You must insure the goods yourself if you wouldn’t be satisfied by insurance policy of warehouse operators. Normally everybody insure their own goods separately. In Turkey there is automated inventory control over bonded warehouses, by Customs. There is an electronic central data system through over all the Turkish customs. Nobody can change any figures in it without mutually signed documents, by customs officer, by customs broker. In modern Turkish Customs administrations, the computer network system maintain overall balance of inventories in each bonded warehouse utilizing the details from the in- and ex-warehouse Customs declarations processed through the Customs online network system. Customs has also have online access to the operator’s inventory system to supplement and compare this data with that in the Customs inventory e.g., the exact location of the goods in the warehouse. These inventory systems also report any goods overlying in bonded warehouses. (i.e., goods not removed from the bonded warehouses. Remember that you can keep your goods in bonded warehouses without time limitations in Turkey). As security systems and inventory systems became more sophisticated nowadays, Customs services in Turkey have improved too fast comparing permanent presence of customs officers in bonded warehouses in the past and instead of physical controls established an ‘open-bonded warehouse’ concept. Such an approach, Customs control is exercised through providing Customs online access to CCTV systems; warehouse operator’s inventory system; and by performing unannounced and selective periodic inventory stock-takes, spot-checks, and audits of inventory systems ensure that no goods be missed or substituted. Sure as I told above all these transaction are under management of sworn customs consultants and there is no chance electronic datas and inventory figures could be changed. This movement from physical control to audit control has significantly reduced the human resource mistakes and costs to both Customs and related fees charged to operators for special service, while increasing Customs enforcement effectiveness, as well as reducing opportunities to corruption. Sure you have allways right to keep a key of warehouse that you have stored your goods in. ( if they are in an independent storage area without any other goods in same warehouse part. You can built up a collateral management system through an independent survey company to be nominated by yourself.) You can allways receive related laws, legislatons and regulations about bonded warehouses through out your commercial consulars of your embassy. Please contact me for your export and import and transit supply chain problems through out of Turkey. Haldun LENGERLIOGLU LICENCED CUSTOMS CONSULTANT TURKEY