Global companies around the world are currently investigating various supply chains for their chemicals ending up in the Turkish market to determine each of their legal entity's position. While one legal entity may have several roles in a supply chain even for the same substance according to the definitions in KKDIK (manufacturer, importer etc.), a single solution may radically ensure successful regulatory compliance for the company. Many companies are after this single and painless solution especially when complex supply chains exist and toll manufacturers are also involved. In any case, it is highly important to determine the role of your legal entity in the supply chain for each product you place on the market.

Just like in the EU REACH, KKDIK also gives the responsibility to the industry to demonstrate safe use of the chemicals and articles manufactured and comply with the obligations. It is envisaged that if there is a subsidiary or Turkish legal entity (TR LE) of a global company, then compliance can easily be achieved. However, that is not always the case. While this seems like an easy solution for regulatory compliance in some scenarios, having a Turkish legal entity does not totally resolve the whole issue. Human resources qualified in the regulatory field and IT systems to track both direct and indirect imports into the market are a few of the hurdles companies face when they want to leave this compliance burden to the TR LE. Every little detail needs to be considered. Especially in complex supply chains, direct and indirect imports come into the picture.

If you are manufacturing outside of Turkey, there may be several Turkish importers of your chemicals independent from one another, seeking for KKDIK compliance. The formulations placed on the Turkish market by an actor in your supply chain might consist of substances that your company manufacture. This will not change the fact that the manufacturer of a substance must (pre-)register, unless the Turkish importer takes on the responsibility for compliance. On the other hand, the manufacturer may have no interest in the Turkish market and compliance of its customers. Meanwhile, Turkish importers are at the stage of investigating their suppliers for KKDIK compliance. Increasing demand for KKDIK pre-registered substances is a result of awareness seminars and the reality that large global companies have already complied with the current obligations. The rest are still in preparation.

If a non-Turkish manufacturer appoints an Only Representative(OR), downstream user (DU) and volume tracking for the (pre-)registered substances automatically becomes the duty of the OR. Problematic cases where the indirect exporters to Turkey do not want to share any customer information and volumes with the manufacturer for coverage will be easily eliminated when a third party, OR is responsible for this information. Moreover, the TR LE importing the substances benefits from the advantages of being defined as a DU and instead of (pre)-registering, they will have to communicate information down the supply chain. It is OR's responsibility to represent the substances to the Turkish Authority, the MoEU.

On the other hand, traders and distributors are also part of the supply chain and have communication duties according to KKDIK. The Distributor is defined as “any natural or legal person established within the EU, including a retailer, who only stores and places on the market a substance, on its own or in a mixture, for third parties”. However, distributor outside of Turkey is not mentioned in the KKDIK Regulation and therefore, can not appoint an OR according to the Article 9 of KKDIK regulation as clearly mentioned in the MoEU Guidance on Registration. This triggers the manufacturer of the substance outside of Turkey to decide and initiate the relevant strategy for KKDIK compliance to release the importers in Turkey from the obligation to (pre-)register and benefit from being defined as a downstream user.

Companies with global presence who already represented their substances in SIEFs and Consortia in the EU will work in harmony with their ORs. Some of these companies will also be involved in the SIEF activities through their ORs or local subsidiary offices. They may act fast in some SIEFs, encouraging other members for the registration preparations. Other SIEFs might still be waiting for an initiation from a member. However, there is only 3 years time frame to register all substances regardless of the tonnage band and this time frame should be used efficiently.

RGS celebrates 11 years of Regulatory Compliance Services with several hundreds of clients all over the world. Do not hesitate to contact RGS, if you need compliance with Turkish Chemicals Laws or have any questions or reference requests about this article.

Dr.Yaprak Yüzak Küçükvar

REACH Global Services Group

Turkey Branch Manager

www.reach-gs.eu