What is the Definition of Warehouse?
Warehouse, as a word, has passed into our language from French and as a word, it means the place where the commercial goods coming to the customs are put and protected, warehouse. Warehouse is a place where the conditions and qualifications to be sought in the establishment are determined by regulation and established for the purpose of putting the exported goods in case the goods under customs supervision are allowed.
Customs warehouses are divided into two as General Warehouse and Private Warehouse.
According to the Features in the Application
– (A) – (B) and (F)Types of General Warehouses..
– Private Warehouses are (C) – (D) and (E) Types..
Type A Warehouse Features
It is the warehouse where the operator keeps the stock records and is responsible for paying the customs duties in case of any deficiency in the goods placed in the warehouse.
– Operator Customs Warehouse Operation Permit Granted
Type B Warehouse Features
It is the type of warehouse where the user is responsible for the goods placed in the warehouse and the warehouse declaration is given by the user. The warehouse operator only leases the warehouse. Since stock records are not kept, declarations and documents are the basis for customs control.
– Person Who Declares Warehouse Regime of User Goods
Type C Warehouse Features
It is a special warehouse type whose operator and user are the same person and this person is responsible for the goods taken into the warehouse.
Type D Warehouse Features
It is a special warehouse type in which the goods subjected to the Customs Warehouse Regime can be delivered for free circulation without being presented to the customs and before the declaration is given.
The goods placed here can be put into free circulation in a simplified manner.
Type E Warehouse Features
It is the type of warehouse where the operator and user are the same person and the storage place of the right holder is considered a warehouse or the warehouse regime provisions are applied to the goods even if it is not a storage place.
Type F Warehouse Features
It is the type of warehouse operated by the customs administrations.
– Fairs and exhibitions where goods not in free circulation are exhibited are also considered private warehouses.
– Under the responsibility of the postal administration and under the supervision of the customs, the closed places reserved for the protection of the parcels of foreign origin are also considered as general warehouses.
Number of Warehouses by Item Type
Featured Item Type |
Number of Warehouses |
Food |
293 |
Liquid Fuel |
58 |
Flammable, combustible |
92 |
Textile |
207 |
Cold Temperature |
84 |
Chemical |
234 |
Resource: Antrepo – GDY Takip Programı
As of the end of December 2022.
About the Warehouse Opening Permit
Warehouses can be opened with the permission of the Undersecretariat of Customs in cases where warehouses are not operated by the customs administrations or the existing businesses are not sufficient. This permission is given to people residing in Turkey if it is understood that there is an economic need to open a warehouse.
Number of Warehouses by Type
Warehouse Type |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022* |
|
General Warehouse |
TYPE A |
601 |
603 |
578 |
606 |
601 |
598 |
613 |
TYPE B |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
TYPE F |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
|
General Warehouse Total |
605 |
606 |
581 |
609 |
603 |
599 |
614 |
|
Private Warehouse |
TYPE C |
429 |
375 |
367 |
364 |
348 |
332 |
349 |
TYPE C (GSM)** |
175 |
175 |
250 |
287 |
280 |
272 |
289 |
|
TYPE D |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
TYPE E |
4 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
Private Warehouse Total |
608 |
553 |
620 |
654 |
629 |
605 |
639 |
|
General Total |
1.213 |
1.159 |
1.201 |
1.263 |
1.232 |
1.204 |
1253*** |
Resource: Antrepo – GDY Takip Programı
* As of the end of December 2022.
** Duty Free Shops
*** 44 A type, 6 C type, 1 GSM output including General Assembly are in the permitted status or in the process of closing.
Guarantee and Commitment
Customs authorities require bonds from bonded warehouse operators and users in an amount to cover customs duties that may accrue.
However, no guarantee is sought for fairs and exhibitions and goods placed in exhibitions, exempt from import duties, or placed in warehouses for export.
In addition, a commitment is taken from the warehouse operators and users, depending on the situation, that they will fulfill their obligations.
Customs Responsibility of Warehouse Operators and Users
Warehouse operators and users are obliged to ensure that the goods are kept under customs supervision during the time they are in the warehouse and are well preserved and comply with the conditions specified in the permit.
Warehouse operators and/or users are financially responsible to the customs administration regarding the goods. This responsibility includes paying the customs duties and penalties of the goods as compensation in case of deficiencies or changes according to the documents.
However,
– Loss and wastage arising from the nature of the goods
– Deficiencies arising as a result of processing activities carried out in the warehouse under the supervision of the customs
– Waste, loss, theft, etc., which is proven to the customs administration that it is not caused by the faults and mistakes of the operator and users. There is no responsibility for the deficiencies that occur due to reasons and no customs duties are required for these goods.
Deficiencies other than the reasons stated above are absolutely unacceptable.
The amount consisting of the sum of their taxes and penalties is issued to the operator or user.
Conditions and Qualifications to be Required in Warehouses
Some qualifications and conditions may be sought by the Undersecretariat for building structures and annexes to be used as General and Special Warehouses.
We can list a few of them as follows
– Not to be in the same building or annexes of more than one of the Type A, B, C, D, E and F warehouses
– Not suitable for smuggling
– Availability of modern fire extinguishing equipment
– All doors and vents other than entrance and exit doors accepted by the customs administration are closed.
– At least one inspection site
– To have special double-locked places where reserved goods can be placed
– Apart from the ones specified, the warehouses where the specialty goods are stored must also have the appropriate technical facilities and vehicles with the properties of the goods and materials to which they are allocated.
Transfer of the Warehouse
It is possible to transfer the rights and obligations of the warehouse operator to another person. Transfer permission is given by the Undersecretariat of Customs. In order to grant this permission, the person who wants to transfer must fully fulfill his commitments and assume all kinds of obligations and responsibilities regarding the goods here in the transfer area.
Presentation and Declaration of Goods to Customs
The goods to be subjected to the Customs Warehouse Regime are presented to the customs administration to which the warehouse is attached. In case of permission, there is no need to present the goods to the customs in the B type warehouse.
Regarding the goods to be subject to this regime, the procedure is carried out in accordance with the general provisions.
Except for the products within the scope of the agricultural policy, declarations regarding the goods to be subjected to the Customs Warehouse Regime can be made in a simplified procedure. For products within the scope of agricultural policy, this issue is subject to the permission of the Undersecretariat.
Transfer of Goods in the Warehouse
Goods stored in Customs Warehouses can also be transferred to someone else by sale.
For this, the requests of the transferor and the transferee must be notified in writing to the relevant customs administration.
In this case, the obligations and legal responsibilities related to the goods pass to the transferee.
Shared Storage
Goods in free circulation and goods not found can be stored in the same warehouse, provided that permission is obtained from the customs administrations. However, export goods that can benefit from export measures are not stored jointly.
If this storage makes it impossible to determine the customs status of each goods, only equivalent goods in the same tariff position and with the same technical characteristics are allowed to be stored together.
Customs administrations may allow the storage of goods not in free circulation subject to the warehousing regime and imported goods or processed products subject to inward processing and processing under customs control regimes.
Goods Transfer Between Warehouses
Goods can be transported between warehouses in two ways. In the first way, it can be done within the framework of the general provisions, by using columns 1, 4 and 5 of the Declaration or by using a form containing the same information, and in the second way, by applying the simplified procedural provisions.
For the Application of the Simplified Procedure
– The customs administrations, to which the warehouses where the goods will be removed and placed, are affiliated, have the authority to use the declaration procedure by registration.
– Same person being responsible for both warehouses
– Stock records of both warehouses must be connected to each other by computer network.
Export Products in Warehouses
In case of being placed in the Customs Warehouse, the customs inspection continues until the exported goods benefiting from export-related measures are exported from the Customs Territory of Turkey or subjected to a process considered export.
Such goods placed in the warehouse must be exported or subjected to a process or use considered export.
Exported goods can be handled with the permission of the Customs administration.
Goods subjected to a customs procedure that is considered export, including being placed in the warehouse, are deemed to have left the Customs Territory of Turkey and this date is recorded in the export declaration.
Types of Warehouses for Processing Activities
Goods within the scope of Internal Processing Regime and Processing Under Customs Control Regimes may be allowed to be processed in warehouses without being subject to customs warehouse regime.
– If the simplified procedure is to be applied in export and free circulation regimes, it can be done in (A) – (C) and (D) type warehouses.
– If the simplified procedure is not to be applied, it can be done in all warehouses by obtaining permission.
Goods in Free Circulation
Goods in free circulation, which do not benefit from export-related measures with the permission of the customs administration, may be placed in warehouses without being subjected to the warehouse regime, except for the purpose of export.
It must be proven that the goods in question will be used in the processing activities to be carried out in the warehouses subject to the Inward Processing Regime or the Processing Under Customs Control Regime, the warehouse in question must be suitable for processing, there must be an economic need and the Customs surveillance must not be adversely affected.
Duration of Goods in the Warehouse
The period of stay of the goods under the warehouse regime is unlimited.
However, if a declaration is registered to subject the goods in the warehouse to another customs-approved process or use, the procedures must be completed within one (1) month.
During this period, if it is proved by documents that it is wrongly placed under the customs procedure subject to the declaration or that it is no longer possible for special reasons to be subjected to the regime in which it was declared, it may declare another regime. In this case, the period for the declaration in question is taken into account.
The Undersecretariat may determine the duration of the goods in the warehouse.
The goods whose transactions are not specified within the specified period and if a certain period is granted, the goods that are not removed within this period shall be disposed of.
Provisions Regarding Goods Displayed at Exhibitions, Fairs or Similar Places
The goods that are intended to be exhibited in such places and that are not in free circulation are declared to the customs administration by the owner or the carrier or their representatives or the representatives of the country to which the goods belong.
The declared goods are checked and inspected, and the matters that help to determine the goods are shown in the declaration.
Inspection and detection is done at the warehouse or exhibition area.
If goods in free circulation and goods not in free circulation are desired to be exhibited together, measures are taken to prevent them from mixing with each other.
In case the exhibited goods are sold, their importation is made with the Declaration of Release for Free Circulation.
Goods to be sold at retail cannot be sold or exhibited without being put into free circulation.
The exhibited goods are transferred to another warehouse within one month following the closure of places such as exhibitions and fairs.
Goods that are not removed within this period are immediately taken to the warehouse at the owner’s expense.
Warehouse for Smuggled Goods
Smuggled Goods are placed in Type (F) general warehouses operated by the Customs administration.
The smuggled goods and materials taken to the warehouse are registered in the smuggled goods entry book.
The goods taken into the warehouse are released from the warehouse for reasons such as being liquidated, acquitted at the end of the court, or returned due to the absence of a criminal element, being sent to other customs and to the court upon request.
The goods released from the warehouse in this way are recorded in the Smuggled Goods Releasing Book.
Liquidation of Goods in Warehouses
– In the warehouses, which are not removed even though their period has expired, and whose transactions are not completed within 30 days from the registration of the declaration, and which are not accepted by the recipient or sender.
– Despite the written notification, the transit goods from the place where they are within 60 days, the excess in the counts and the reason for the excess cannot be explained,
– Goods that are forbidden to enter Turkey and that are burdensome and costly to store are disposed of.
Supervision and Investigation
Customs Supervisors and Officers, Customs Inspectors and Assistant Inspectors in charge of inspecting whether the provisions of the Customs Legislation are fulfilled, examining records and documents, making necessary investigations in accordance with the smuggling legislation, in warehouses, free-space exhibitions and fairs, in places where customs allowed to store goods and in passenger lounges. , Customs Controllers and Trainees are authorized.
Those who are responsible for these inspections and investigations are obliged to provide the necessary information and documents.
The inspection results are reported to the Undersecretariat with a report to be drawn up, and the Undersecretariat uses its powers and takes the necessary measures according to this report.
Obligations of Warehouse Operators Obligatory Matters
Operators are obliged to take the necessary measures to ensure that customs surveillance and inspection procedures are carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Customs Law and to fulfill the requests of the Undersecretariat of Customs for the provision of all kinds of physical structures.
In addition, the Undersecretariat has to make additional equipment and changes deemed necessary and to provide the tools required by advanced technology.
Laws Related to the Warehouse Regime
Customs Law and Regulation No. 4458
- Gümrük Kanunu 93. Madde ila 107. Maddeleri dir.
- Gümrük Yönetmeliğinin 328 ila 348. Maddeleri ve 518 ila 552. Maddeleri dir.