Bill increasing penalties for exorbitant pricing and hoarding is in the Turkish Parliament

According to the accepted articles of the bill, the Competition Board will notify the relevant parties of the investigations it has initiated within 15 days from the date the decision to initiate the investigation is made. Along with this notification letter, the Board will send sufficient information to the relevant parties regarding the type and nature of the allegations. This aims to both enable the parties to mount a more effective defense and to ensure that investigation processes proceed more rapidly.

It will be notified to the parties that they must submit their written defenses to the Board within 30 days from the notification of the investigation report. If justified reasons are presented, this period may be extended by up to one time and for a maximum of double the original duration. If those assigned to conduct the investigation change their opinions in the investigation report as a result of the written defenses received, they will notify all Board members and the relevant parties of their written opinions within 15 days. The parties will be able to respond to this opinion within 30 days.

Amendments will be made to the Law on the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey.

Accordingly, in transactions related to product certificates and forward contracts, the transfer and payment of the price, the fulfillment of other obligations of the buyer and seller by intermediaries of trading on product specialized exchanges or by the institutions from which they receive clearing and custody services, the registration of the trade, and other matters related to the trade will be carried out by the product specialized exchange in accordance with the law and relevant legislative provisions.

The financial liability of the product specialized exchange or the institution authorized by the product specialized exchange as a clearing center in clearing transactions will be limited to the limits they establish and the collateral obtained, as well as the assets of the guarantee fund.

The procedures and principles regarding the establishment, operation, use, and participants of the collateral to be obtained and the guarantee fund that may be created to ensure the fulfillment of obligations arising from transactions carried out on product specialized exchanges and to compensate for losses will be determined by a regulation to be issued by the Ministry of Trade. The collateral and assets in the guarantee fund cannot be used for purposes other than those for which they were deposited, cannot be transferred to third parties, cannot be seized even for public debts, cannot be pledged, cannot be included in the bankruptcy estate, and no precautionary injunctions can be placed on them.

The procedures and principles regarding the intermediation of trading of product certificates and forward contracts on product specialized exchanges, the authorization of intermediaries and the suspension and cancellation of this authorization, the supervision and inspection of intermediaries, other transactions related to brokerage services on product certificates and forward contracts, and the accrual of interest on cash credit balances in customer accounts depending on the authority granted by the customer will be regulated by regulations to be issued jointly by the Ministry and the Capital Markets Board.

According to the amendment made to the Agricultural Products Licensed Warehousing Law, businesses whose licenses are suspended will not be able to demand warehouse rent for the days they remain suspended.

Storage fees accrued for products stored in licensed warehouses by the Turkish Grain Board (TMO) General Directorate and paid to licensed warehouse businesses in monthly periods will not be paid during the suspension period. This article will enter into force 6 months after the date of publication of the regulation.

ADMINISTRATIVE FINES IN LICENSED WAREHOUSING

By amending the Agricultural Products Licensed Warehousing Law, new criminal sanctions will be introduced for certain acts and administrative fines will be increased in order to increase the effectiveness and deterrent nature of the penalties.

Accordingly, an administrative fine of 200 thousand to 1 million liras will be imposed on licensed warehouse businesses that demand and collect fees above those determined in the licensed warehousing fee schedule or for services not included in the fee schedule, or that make deductions from the product quantity in violation of the legislation during product delivery, act in violation of the "display" provision of the law, or do not comply with the content, form, and storage conditions regulated in the relevant regulation of the product certificate.

An administrative fine of 200 thousand to 1 million liras will be imposed on licensed warehouse businesses that act in violation of provisions including the inability to issue another product certificate for all or part of the agricultural product represented by a product certificate for which a delivery obligation has been regulated and not cancelled, and the failure to remedy issues contrary to the law and relevant regulations or incomplete issues within the given time despite the warnings and administrative measures of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

In cases where the product is accepted into or removed from the warehouse without analysis and classification, the weighing receipt does not meet the conditions determined in the relevant regulation, tools and equipment are used without calibration or periodic checks, or a difference is detected between the class and quality specified in the electronic product certificate representing the product and the class and quality of the products in the warehouse due to non-compliance with storage conditions, an administrative fine of 200 thousand liras will be applied to the licensed warehouse businesses performing these acts for each violation.

In cases where a witness sample is not taken and not stored for the period determined in the relevant regulation, the analysis and classification certificate does not meet the conditions determined in the relevant regulation, tools and equipment in the laboratory are used without calibration or periodic checks, the witness sample and the analysis and classification certificate of the product represented by this sample are different, or the values in the records kept during the analysis are different from the values in the analysis and classification certificate, an administrative fine of 200 thousand liras will be imposed on the authorized classifiers performing these acts for each violation.

An administrative fine of 200 thousand to 1 million liras will be imposed on authorized classifiers who demand and collect fees above those determined in the authorized classifier fee schedule or for services not included in the fee schedule, or who act in violation of the relevant provision.

In case of repetition of the violation requiring administrative fines within a calendar year, an administrative fine of twice the previous penalty will be applied for each repetition.

ALLOCATION METHOD IN THE USE OF COVERED MARKETPLACES

The bill also amends the Law on the Regulation of Trade in Vegetables and Fruits and Other Goods with Sufficient Supply and Demand Depth.

According to the regulation, the leasing method with limited real rights, which causes sales places and other areas in covered marketplaces to be rented to market traders at high prices, is being abolished. It is aimed to reduce the costs of market traders by allowing sales places in marketplaces to be used only through the allocation method.

In addition, the bill aims to prevent the increase in costs for market traders resulting from the allocation of sales places in covered marketplaces to other persons who are not in the market trading profession through the limited real rights method.

Following the acceptance of 7 articles of the bill, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Celal Adan adjourned the session. After the break, as the commission did not take its place, Adan closed the session to meet today at 14:00.