Source: European Parliament
Trade in agricultural products between the Union and Türkiye is governed by Decision No 1/98 of the EC-Turkey Association Council[1].
Decision 1/95 of the Association Council[2] reaffirms the common objective to move towards the free movement of agricultural products between themselves. Increasing tariffs on agricultural products imported from Türkiye would go against this objective.
The Commission can use trade defence instruments to tackle unfairly dumped or subsidised imports of such products. The complaints office of the Directorate-General for Trade can provide advice[3].
Food safety is a priority for the Commission. Food products placed on the EU market, regardless of their origin, must comply with the Union food safety legislation. Member States carry out official controls at all stages of production, processing and distribution, including at import.
Where food of non-animal origin from third countries poses a risk, the Commission takes measures through Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1793[4] which include checks and special conditions governing the entry into the Union of certain food and feed of non-animal origin from certain third countries. These measures are periodically reviewed taking into account new information from Member States related to risks and instances of non-compliance.
In addition, the Commission regularly performs audits in Member States and in third countries, to ensure that the relevant products comply with EU rules. The reports of those audits are published, including the actions taken to address the reports’ recommendations[5]. The Commission follows up on these actions.
The Commission is not aware of any specific issues with Turkish products in Member States.
- [1] OJ L86, 20.3.1998, p.1 — https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec/1998/223/oj/eng
- [2] OJ L35, 13.2.1996, p.1 — https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52012PC0092
- [3] Email contact: trade-defence-complaints@ec.europa.eu
- [4] OJ L 277, 29.10.2019, p. 89 — https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2019/1793/oj
- [5] https://ec.europa.eu/food/audits-analysis/audit-report