IKV in cooperation with BAGIDER (Baby Appliances Manufacturers, Importers and Retailers Association) organized on 17 June 2015  a seminar entitled “Health, Security Standards and Import Implementations in Maternal and Infant products” in the process towards EU Accession.

During the opening speeches of the seminar, while IKV Member of the Executive Board Responsible for Accounts, Mehmet Nuri Görenoğlu gave detailed information on the activities carried out by IKV and its FTA Information and Capacity Building Center, BAGİDER Chairman Perviz Aran presented the newly established BAGİDER and briefed about the problems faced by the sector.

In the panel chaired by BAGİDER Chairman Aran, BAGİDER Vice-Chairman Sami Herman, Istanbul Customs Laboratory Manager Yaşar Çiftçi, Turkish Ministry of Customs and Trade’s Expert Attila Saka and IKV Senior Researcher Selen Akses gave presentation respectively.

BAGİDER Vice-Chairman Herman gave an overview of the sector on maternal and infant products in Turkey.  While emphasizing the importance of reaching the EU standards in these products, Herman explained the problems encountered in this sector due to additional taxes, high prices for consumers, remaining loopholes within the Turkish Legislation as well as the lack of qualification and knowledge of products among workers. BAGİDER Vice-Chairman Herman stressed the importance of conducting product testing and analyses in the Turkish market.

Istanbul Customs Laboratory Manager Yaşar Çiftçi gave a detailed presentation regarding the product testing and analyses applied in the customs on the import. He informed about the initiatives taken by Turkey to harmonize the working principles of customs laboratories with EU standards. He also gave information on the available legislation regarding banned chemicals.

Turkish Ministry of Customs and Trade’s Expert Saka gave a presentation on the Legislation of market surveillance and inspections and its implementation. In this regard, he touched upon the analyses based on EU Legislations, international standards and EU Rapid Alert System (RAPEX). He pointed out that approximately 260 technical products legislation in Turkey were aligned with EU legislation.

Lastly, IKV Senior Researcher Selen Akses retraced the latest developments on the world trading system and on the EU’s trade policy to highlight the importance given during the trade negotiations to the protection of consumers and safety products. In this respect, she gave the example of TTIP to illustrate that both the EU and the USA were working on harmonizing or approximating technical regulations and approaches in regards to the children’s textiles’ flammability in order to guarantee the product safety and ensure a higher level of consumer protection.