IKV Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu issued a press release concerning the problems in transport of goods to the EU market. Chairman Zeytinoğlu indicated that restrictions on transit permits issued by Slovenia and Hungary, the two EU countries on the transit way to Germany which constitutes Turkey’s biggest export market, disrupt trade. Chairman Zeytinoğlu stated the following:

“Because of the Customs Union, Turkey is entitled to export industrial goods to the EU without being subject to tariffs or barriers. Customs Union foresees the free movement of goods. However, the difficulties raised by countries violate the principle of free movement of goods. The fact that while the number of transit permits issued by countries on the way to Germany are way less than the 170 thousand transportation quotas issued by Germany, impairs exports. As hauliers exhaust all their annual quotas in the first six months of the year, transit becomes impossible. On the other hand, the alternative routes through Romania and Ukraine to Poland are long and inconvenient. The problems encountered in transport of goods increase the cost of freight and have a negative impact on our competitiveness in the EU market.”

Chairman Zeytinoğlu also indicated that the restrictions were against the Customs Union:

“The principle free movement of goods, which is the basis of the Customs Union, is violated by barriers in transportation. The quotas applied to trucks carrying goods affect trade in a negative way. To solve these problems, lobbying activities should be initiated on a country basis. Resorting to different transport modes such as increasing the use of railway transportation could help solve these problems. We invite the European Commission to take action on this issue since the obstacles concerning transit quotas raised by the EU Member States are against the Customs Union. A study commissioned by the European Commission shows that the liberalisation of road transportation between Turkey and the EU will result in 2.3 billion euro additional output.  We demand the abolition of quotas and the other restrictions in a way that will benefit both the Turkish and the EU economy.”