Regulation and Standards

European Union (EU) membership has been designated as one of our country's priority objectives. In line with this objective, our country is pursuing determined policies aimed at achieving its EU membership. For this reason, our Institution has harmonized its own regulations with the EU's regulations in the telecommunications field in order to contribute to the fulfillment of our country's membership obligations.

In this context, the Radio Equipment Directive 2014/53/EU (RED), which falls under the responsibility of our Institution within the framework of alignment with EU legislation, serves as an example of legal regulation where Harmonized Standards utilize the characteristics of the New Approach supported by standards in the telecommunications field. In this case, the standards have a "Co-legislator" function.

The "Radio Equipment Regulation," which is the RED alignment text prepared by our Institution, has been published in the Official Gazette and entered into force. During market surveillance, it is necessary to check whether the sample devices collected comply with the essential requirements specified in the Radio Equipment Regulation. For this purpose, a Market Surveillance Laboratory has been established to subject the sample devices collected during market surveillance to the necessary tests and measurements within the scope of technical conformity assessments.

RE Directive and Standards

The Radio Equipment Directive (RED) 2014/53/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council dated 16.04.2014 on radio equipment and the mutual recognition of their conformity entered into force as of 02.10.2016.

Manufacturers use Harmonized Standards to demonstrate the RED conformity of the products they manufacture. For this reason, agreements have been made between the EU and ETSI, CEN, and CENELEC for the development of harmonized standards, which are updated as needed.

The manufacturer's use of harmonized standards is optional. If the manufacturer uses harmonized standards, there is no obligation to go to a Notified Body. This provides an advantage to manufacturers. However, if the manufacturer uses a different standard, it must apply to a Notified Body to demonstrate that the standard it uses meets the criteria set by the RE Directive.

The "Radio Equipment Regulation" (RE Regulation), which is the RED alignment text prepared by our Institution, has been prepared and published based on Law No. 4703 on the Preparation and Implementation of Technical Legislation Related to Products and Law No. 7223 on Product Safety and Technical Regulations dated 5/3/2020.

Within the scope of the Electronic Communications Law No. 5809, the list of Harmonized European Standards and related Harmonized National Standards prepared by our Institution is updated and published in line with the standards published in the EU Official Journal.

Market Surveillance Laboratory

Within the scope of the "Regulation on Market Surveillance and Inspection" prepared by our Institution, in cases where there are doubts that radio equipment does not comply with the relevant technical regulation and/or is unsafe during inspections at the stage of placing on the market or distribution or while on the market, the devices must be subjected to testing. For this purpose, a Market Surveillance Laboratory has been established to conduct surveillance activities. With this structure, the inspection of radio and telecommunications terminal equipment is carried out through test and measurement processes performed in the Market Surveillance Laboratory on samples taken from the market. In the Market Surveillance Laboratory;

Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC),
Low Voltage Directive (LVD),
Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) of mobile phone devices,
Radio Frequency (RF) tests can be conducted.

The procedures followed in EMC, LVD, SAR, and RF measurements have been prepared in accordance with CEN, CENELEC standards, primarily ETSI, and ITU recommendations.

For detailed information about the Market Surveillance Laboratory, click here.

Standards

In accordance with the Decision of the EC-Turkey Association Council No. 1/95 establishing the Customs Union between Turkey and the European Union, customs duties, equivalent taxes, and quantitative restrictions in trade of industrial and processed agricultural products between the EU and Turkey were removed as of 01/01/1996, and Turkey began applying the EU's Common Customs Tariff to third countries for these products. Since the removal of customs duties, equivalent taxes, and quantitative restrictions was not sufficient for the free movement of goods in trade, it has been envisaged under Article 8 of the aforementioned Decision of the Association Council that the EU legislation on the removal of technical barriers to trade should also be incorporated into our country's domestic legal regulations.

Subsequently, the Community instruments on the removal of technical barriers to trade were determined with Decision of the Association Council No. 2/97, and the public institutions that will harmonize these Community technical instruments were identified with the Council of Ministers Decision dated 15/01/1997 and No. 97/9196.

The EU aims to achieve two main objectives through its common regulations:

Product Safety,
Free Movement of Products.

Although individual EU technical legislation generally contains provisions aimed at the first objective, and thus harmonization of any EU technical legislation by Turkey appears to achieve this objective, there is a need to develop national legislation in areas where EU legislation does not exist without compromising the product safety objective. To fulfill this need and to consolidate the minimum provisions for the safety of all products into a single legal text, Law No. 4703 on the Preparation and Implementation of Technical Legislation Related to Products has been prepared. The most important element in achieving the second objective is the harmonization of individual EU technical legislation in accordance with Turkey's commitment to harmonize EU technical legislation, which is the responsibility of public institutions and organizations conducting harmonization studies according to their fields of activity. Law No. 4703 was repealed by Law No. 7223 on Product Safety and Technical Regulations, which entered into force in 2021 and is more comprehensive. The subjects regulated by the currently valid Law No. 7223 include:

Conditions for placing products on the market by manufacturers,
Obligations of producers, importers, distributors, and authorized representatives (Economic Operators),
Market Surveillance and Inspection,
Stopping the placing on the market of products posing serious risks, preventing their availability on the market, withdrawal from the market, recall, destruction, and rendering inoperable,
Procedures and principles for testing, inspection, and certification bodies that will conduct conformity assessment activities,
Applicable penalties,
Notifications to be made to the EU Commission, EU member states, and other EU bodies regarding implementations.

Within the scope of the European Parliament and Council's (EU) 2018/1972 European Electronic Communications Code (EECC), a list of standards and/or technical specifications is prepared and published in the EU Official Journal to promote the harmonized provision of electronic communications networks, electronic communications services, and related facilities and services.

On the other hand, the EU Commission requests that these standards be prepared by the European standards organizations CEN, CENELEC, and ETSI.