Skip to content
Casework IP

ServicesCustoms enforcement

Customs enforcement

We file and renew your customs application for action, train officers at the main ports and border gates, and act within the statutory deadline when a shipment is held.

The problem

Counterfeit apparel, footwear, bags and cosmetics enter and leave Türkiye through its ports, airports and land borders, as imports, exports and transit cargo. Customs can suspend a shipment on its own initiative, but as a rule it acts on an application for action filed under Article 57 of the Customs Law. The application gives officers a record of your marks and a representative to call.

What we do

  1. 01

    Customs applications

    File and renew your application for action with the Ministry of Trade so that officers can suspend suspect goods.

  2. 02

    Product ID guides and officer training

    Prepare a guide to your genuine products and train officers at the main ports and border gates to use it.

  3. 03

    Detention response

    Inspect the held goods, obtain your confirmation and file the consent or the court order within the statutory deadline.

  4. 04

    Destruction or prosecution

    Arrange destruction with the declarant's consent where possible, and file a criminal complaint where consent is refused.

How it works

  1. Before any detention

    Application for action

    We file your application for action electronically with the Ministry of Trade, attaching your registration certificates, the power of attorney and the product ID guide. There is no official fee and no security to deposit. The application runs for up to one year and we renew it before it lapses, for as long as the registration itself remains in force.

  2. Day 0

    Suspension notice

    Customs suspends the release of the suspect goods and notifies us as your representative. Where no application is on file, an officer who sees clear signs of counterfeiting can still hold the goods on their own initiative. You then have 3 working days to file an application, or the goods are released.

  3. Days 1–3

    Inspection and your confirmation

    We obtain photographs or samples from the customs office, compare them with your product ID guide and send you a short report to confirm. Samples are provided on request, and any laboratory analysis is at your cost. If the declarant can be reached, we ask for written consent to destruction at the same time.

  4. Within 10 working days

    Consent or court order

    The statutory period is 10 working days from the notification. Within it we file either the declarant's written consent to destruction or a court order, meaning a preliminary injunction or a criminal seizure order. Customs can extend the period once by up to 10 working days on justified grounds, and for perishable goods the period is 3 working days with no extension.

  5. Typically weeks 3–8

    Destruction, or a case

    Where the owner or declarant consents and does not object, customs destroys the goods under its own supervision without a court case, at the right holder's cost. In practice this takes a month or more from the notice. Where consent is refused, the goods stay in customs storage at your cost and risk until the court decides, and the file continues as a criminal or civil case.

What we need from you

  • Registration certificates for the marks to be protected
  • A notarised and apostilled power of attorney
  • A product ID guide, or the material to build one
  • A named contact for fast confirmation of counterfeits

Questions

  • How long does a customs application last?

    Up to one year from the date it is recorded, extendable on request. Customs will not grant a period longer than the remaining life of the registration, so a mark due for renewal is recorded only until its renewal date. We track both dates and renew before either lapses.

  • What does a detention cost?

    The application carries no official fee and no security. Once goods are held on your application, the Customs Regulation places storage, analysis and destruction costs on the right holder, and if the goods prove genuine the importer may claim its losses from you. Where the court orders confiscation, the costs fall on the owner of the goods. We quote the expected costs of each detention before you confirm and list them in the monthly report.

  • What happens to small parcels?

    Postal and express consignments go through the same procedure, and customs selects them by risk analysis. Travellers' personal effects and non-commercial postal items are outside Article 57, so a single pair of shoes in a tourist's luggage is not a customs case. Small parcels arriving in a steady flow usually come from a marketplace seller, so we run the customs application together with online monitoring.

  • Do you work outside Istanbul?

    Yes. We work in all 81 provinces of Türkiye; most actions outside Istanbul are at the ports, the border gates and the resort markets.

  • Do we need a Turkish trademark registration first?

    Generally yes. Customs applications and criminal complaints rest on a registration that covers Türkiye, either a national filing with TÜRKPATENT or an international registration under the Madrid system.

  • How do you report?

    Once a month. The report lists the actions taken, the seizures, the costs and the next steps, and you can forward it internally as it is.

FAQ →

Related insights

TALK TO US ABOUT PROTECTINGYOUR BRAND IN TÜRKİYE.

Talk to us

Write in English or Turkish; we reply within one business day.