The Regulation ensuring the control and certification of organic products under Turkish law is the Regulation on the Principles and Implementation of Organic Farming, published in the Official Gazette No. 27676 dated 18.08.2010, and the Organic Farming Law No. 5262 dated 1/12/2004.
The purpose of the Organic Farming Law is to determine the procedures and principles regarding the measures to be taken to promote the production of organic products and inputs in order to provide reliable and high-quality products to consumers. The Law covers the execution of control and certification services related to organic farming activities, the supervision procedures and principles of Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and issues regarding authority, duties, and responsibilities. You can access the Law from the link below:
https://www.mevzuat.gov.tr/mevzuat?MevzuatNo=5262&MevzuatTur=1&MevzuatTertip=5
The purpose of the Regulation on the Principles and Implementation of Organic Farming is to determine the procedures and principles regarding the protection of ecological balance, the execution of organic agricultural activities, and the regulation, development, and dissemination of organic agricultural production and marketing.
The Regulation covers technical and administrative issues regarding the production or procurement of all kinds of plant, animal, and aquatic products in accordance with the organic farming method; yeasts used as food or feed; the collection of products from forests and natural areas in accordance with organic farming principles; and the processing, packaging, labeling, storage, transportation, marketing, control, certification, inspection, and penal provisions of these products.
The “inputs” covered by the Regulation are outside the scope of accreditation. Accordingly, the accreditation body does not audit the activities of the control and certification body related to “inputs.” The input inspection activities of the control and certification body are supervised by the relevant authorities of Republic of Türkiye of Agriculture and Forestry.
The “inputs” covered by the Regulation on the Principles and Implementation of Organic Farming are not included in other organic farming regulations. Therefore, input control and certification are not carried out according to regulations other than the Turkish Organic Farming Regulation.
The Regulation on the Principles and Implementation of Organic Farming consists of 7 sections, 55 articles, and 14 annexes. You can access the Regulation from the link below:
https://www.mevzuat.gov.tr/mevzuat?MevzuatNo=14217&MevzuatTur=7&MevzuatTertip=5
General Provisions – consists of Purpose, Scope, Legal Basis, and Definitions.
Principles of Organic Farming – consists of the following parts:
General Production According to Organic Farming Activity,
Plant Production, Mushroom and Yeast Production by the Organic Farming Method,
Animal Production by the Organic Farming Method,
Aquaculture by the Organic Farming Method,
Processing, Packaging, Labeling, Storage, Transportation, and Marketing of Organic Products.
Operation of the Control and/or Certification System – consists of Control Principles and Certification Principles.
Authorized Bodies and Operators – includes Conditions Required in Authorized Bodies, Work Permit, Working Principles, and Sanctions.
Inspection and Penalties – includes Inspection, Authority and Responsibilities, and In-service Training of Inspection Personnel.
Committees – consists of the Organic Farming Committee and the Organic Farming National Steering Committee.
Miscellaneous and Final Provisions.
You can access the annexes of the Regulation by clicking the red line “Click to see the annexes of the Regulation” at the bottom of the legislation.
The meanings of the expressions you can see at the beginning of some article numbers in bold italics in the Regulation:
Repealed (Mülga): In legal terms, it is defined as repeal, no longer valid. In cases where it is necessary to refer to regulations that have been repealed, it is indicated that they are repealed.
Additional Article (Ek Madde): When a new regulation to be made in the legislation cannot be added to one of the existing articles and does not fit the sequence of the existing articles, the additional article practice is applied.
Provisional Article (Geçici Madde): Provisional articles regulate the procedures and arrangements to be made, or the principles and rules to be followed, until the new regulation introduced by the new legislative text comes into force; as well as the protection of rights arising from previous regulations and similar transitional provisions. Provisional articles are also numbered separately.