ANALYSIS · 12 October 2023
Turkish Law No. 7223 on Product Safety and Technical Regulations: Scope, Risk and Manufacturers’ Duties
Law No. 7223 regulates not only a product’s initial placement on the market but also the monitoring and elimination of risks after it reaches the end user. Its core elements are product safety, traceability, corrective action and, where necessary, recall.
Purpose of the Law and the rationale behind it
Turkish Law No. 7223 on Product Safety and Technical Regulations seeks to ensure that products comply with applicable technical rules and are safe. It also governs market surveillance and the duties of economic operators. The legislative rationale recognises that intervention against dangerous products cannot be left entirely to market forces. Public action must nevertheless avoid unnecessarily obstructing production and trade and must remain necessary and proportionate to the risk. The Law therefore balances the free movement of products with the protection of health, safety, the environment and other public interests.
Which products are covered?
The Law establishes a general regime for products intended to be placed or made available on the market or put into service, as well as products already on the market. Its broad product concept covers substances, preparations and goods resulting from a manufacturing process. Where a specific statute governs a particular product group, that special regime takes priority. Law No. 7223 supplements it where the special legislation contains no applicable rule. The legislative rationale expressly confirms this general and complementary function.
Application to motor vehicles
Passenger cars and other motor vehicles fall within the concept of a product. This conclusion does not rest on the broad definition alone. When explaining that certain products must remain subject to inspection after reaching the user and during use, the legislative rationale expressly identifies motor vehicles as an example. Type-approval rules and sector-specific automotive legislation retain priority, while Law No. 7223 completes the framework on product safety, traceability, corrective action, withdrawal and recall.
Non-compliance, unsafe products and risk
Non-compliance with a technical rule is not identical to a finding that a product is unsafe. Non-compliance means failure to satisfy applicable technical or general product-safety requirements. Risk requires a combined assessment of the probability of harm and the seriousness of its possible consequences. Not every formal deficiency therefore warrants the same intervention. Conversely, a product supported by formal documentation cannot be regarded as safe if it creates a serious actual danger to health, safety, the environment or another protected public interest. The form and intensity of intervention must be proportionate to the specific risk.
Core duties of the manufacturer
A manufacturer may place on the market only products that comply with the applicable technical regulation or general product-safety requirements. This responsibility is not confined to design and manufacture. The manufacturer must arrange the required conformity assessment, prepare and retain technical documentation, provide conformity markings and documents, and ensure that the product can be identified. The manufacturer’s name and contact details, together with instructions and safety information required for safe use, must be supplied in Turkish.
Continuing responsibility after placement on the market
According to the legislative rationale, the manufacturer’s responsibility does not end when the product is delivered to a distributor or acquired by the end user. The manufacturer must monitor risks, assess complaints, technical findings and reports of harm, carry out sample testing where necessary and inform distributors. Upon learning that a product is non-compliant or unsafe, the manufacturer must take corrective action without delay and cooperate with the competent authority. Available measures include suspension of placement on the market, correction of non-compliance, withdrawal and recall.
Recall as a mandatory protective measure
Where a product has reached the end user and other measures are insufficient to eliminate the risk, recall becomes necessary. Article 19 and its rationale do not treat recall as a voluntary reputation-management exercise but as a mandatory protective measure when its conditions are met. The risk and the measures adopted must be effectively announced, return must be possible without imposing an additional burden, and the end user must be offered the statutory remedies. Voluntary action remains important, but once the risk has materialised, delay does not remove the duty and may aggravate the breach.
Regulatory intervention and sanctions
Depending on the risk, the competent authority may require warnings, correction of non-compliance, suspension of market availability, withdrawal, recall or destruction. If the economic operator fails to act adequately and in time, the authority may intervene directly and charge the responsible operator for the costs. The Law also provides for administrative fines. Harm caused by a product may separately trigger civil liability and, where the elements of an offence are established, criminal responsibility. Law No. 7223 does not itself create criminal responsibility, but it is an important statutory measure of the conduct expected from a manufacturer or manager.
Implications for corporate compliance
The statutory model is not limited to checking documents. An effective product-safety system must ensure traceability by series or model, escalation of complaints and harm data to decision-makers, technical and legal risk assessment and prompt intervention. Particularly in sectors involving long-lived products such as motor vehicles, the duty does not end at sale but continues throughout the product’s life on the market. Product safety is therefore a continuous corporate task extending from the production line to the end user and, where necessary, to taking the product back.