Principles and rules to be applied in retail trade have been determined

In line with the amendments made to the Law No. 6585 on the Regulation of Retail Trade, a Draft Regulation Amendment was prepared by our Ministry of Trade regarding the Principles and Rules to be Applied in Retail Trade and was opened for the opinion of relevant organizations and the public on August 24, 2023.

As a result of the evaluation of the opinions received by the Ministry of Trade, the regulation, which is compatible with the relevant Law No. 6585 on the Regulation of Retail Trade, has been published in the Official Gazette.
Regulations have been introduced regarding commercial relations between producers, suppliers, and retail businesses.
Activities in commercial relations between producers, suppliers, and retail businesses that significantly distort the commercial activities of the other party, reduce their ability to make reasonable decisions, or cause them to become a party to a commercial relationship they would not normally enter into, have been defined as "unfair commercial practices" and prohibited.

In this context; forcing the other party to procure goods or services from any person, reflecting campaign costs to the party that does not wish to engage in promotional sales, failing to determine the terms of the commercial relationship in the supply of agricultural and food products through a written or electronic contract, including provisions in the contract that grant the authority to make unilateral changes or that are not clear and understandable, charging premiums or fees from the other party even though no service directly affecting product demand is provided, canceling orders for agricultural and food products that can spoil within 30 days from the production date within 30 days prior to the delivery date of the product, reflecting costs such as spoilage after the delivery of products to the other party and returning them on the grounds that they could not be sold, reflecting costs related to administrative and penal sanctions or customer complaints to the producer or supplier, engaging in commercial retaliation against the other party on the grounds of applying to public institutions or judicial authorities, and causing harm to the other party by making untrue or misleading statements or notifications regarding essential matters related to the business scale and its products and activities have been prohibited and made subject to administrative fines.

Payment periods for the supply of agricultural and food products between producers, suppliers, and retail businesses have been shortened.
With the regulation, the payment period for the supply of agricultural and food products that can spoil within 30 days from the production date has been set at "45 days," regardless of the scale of the parties. In cases where the supply of products involves a 'creditor that is small and a debtor that is medium or large-scale' or a 'creditor that is medium and a debtor that is large-scale'; in cases where the creditor is smaller in scale than the debtor, this period has been set at "30 days" in order to protect the small-scale business.

Furthermore, with the regulation, the payment period for the supply of agricultural and food products that do not spoil within 30 days from the production date has been set at 60 days in cases where the creditor is small and the debtor is medium or large-scale, or the creditor is medium and the debtor is large-scale.
With this regulation, it is aimed to reduce disputes between parties regarding payments, and to lower financing costs and prices for the producer or supplier by shortening maturity periods when determining the final price.

It is aimed to facilitate citizens' access to gluten-free, lactose-free, and similar products

The aim is to support the increase in supply and meet the demand for food products with gluten-free, lactose-free, low-protein, and similar characteristics. In this context, the Ministry of Trade has been granted the authority to impose an obligation to sell food products for diseases requiring medical nutritional therapy on chain stores that sell fast-moving consumer goods and have more than 200 branches, to be applied in branches with a sales area of more than 250 square meters.
In accordance with all these regulations, which will enter into force on January 1, 2024, while regulating commercial activities between producers, suppliers, and retail businesses in retail trade, it is also aimed to facilitate the access of our citizens who require medical nutritional therapy to products with gluten-free, lactose-free, and similar characteristics.

News Source: 12punto