In short: A fashion business entering or trading with Türkiye must coordinate product safety, textile and footwear labelling, chemicals, customs, intellectual property, consumer, e-commerce, advertising and manufacturing rules. Market entry is therefore more than appointing a distributor or opening a store.
Why it matters: The manufacturer, importer, distributor, retailer and brand owner may carry different legal responsibilities. A single garment can create connected issues involving Law No. 7223, fibre composition, KKDİK, TAREKS, customs origin, design and trademark rights, online sales, influencer campaigns and recalls.
How We Assist Fashion Brands and Apparel Companies in Türkiye
Turkish Trade Lawyers advises international fashion brands, apparel manufacturers, textile and leather companies, footwear businesses, retailers, e-commerce operators, importers, distributors and investors on the legal framework affecting their products and commercial operations.
Product compliance
Product safety, textile and footwear labelling, market surveillance, technical documentation and recall readiness.
Imports and TAREKS
GTIP classification, customs value, origin, import registration, chemical controls, trade remedies and border risk.
Manufacturing and sourcing
Turkish factory, private-label, supply, quality, subcontracting, inspection, delivery and indemnity agreements.
Fashion IP
Trademark, industrial design, copyright, licensing, counterfeit enforcement and ownership of creative assets.
Retail and e-commerce
Market entry, franchise, distribution, distance sales, consumer returns, marketplace and ETBİS matters.
Advertising and claims
Influencer campaigns, discounts, targeted advertising, AI-supported advertising, environmental claims and greenwashing risk.
Who Regulates Apparel and Fashion Products in Türkiye?
There is no single fashion regulator. The relevant authority depends on the product, transaction and legal issue.
- Ministry of Trade: product safety and market surveillance for textile, ready-made clothing, footwear and related consumer products; customs, TAREKS, import controls, consumer protection and advertising.
- Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change: chemical-management rules, including the KKDİK framework affecting restricted substances.
- Turkish Patent and Trademark Office: trademark and industrial-design registration and enforcement infrastructure.
- Advertising Board and consumer authorities: commercial advertising, discount claims, influencer disclosures, environmental claims and unfair commercial practices.
The same product may therefore be reviewed by more than one authority, both when it crosses the border and after it is offered to consumers.
Product Safety, Market Surveillance and Recalls
Law No. 7223 on Product Safety and Technical Regulations requires products placed on the Turkish market to satisfy the technical rules applicable to them and to be safe. Depending on the structure, obligations may attach to the manufacturer, authorised representative, importer or distributor.
Before launch, a foreign fashion brand should identify who is the manufacturer for Turkish purposes, who imports the goods, who maintains testing and compliance documents, who answers inspections, who manages corrective action and how recall costs are allocated. A commercial contract may allocate commercial risk but cannot eliminate statutory obligations.
Market surveillance may lead to corrective action, prohibition from sale or recall. Türkiye’s GÜBİS unsafe-product system shows why businesses should maintain batch traceability and a written response process for stopping distribution, notifying partners, communicating with authorities and documenting the remedy.
Textile and Footwear Labelling Requirements
Textile products within the scope of the applicable regulation must identify their fibre composition using legally recognised fibre names and percentages. Labelling or marking should be durable, easily readable, visible, accessible and securely attached. Manufacturers are responsible for the accuracy of the required information, while distributors must ensure that products made available on the market carry the required marking.
Fibre composition should be consistent across the physical label, packaging, catalogue, product page and other commercial descriptions. A label prepared for another market should not automatically be assumed to comply with Turkish requirements.
Footwear is subject to a separate framework. Material information concerning the upper, lining and sock, and outer sole may need to be shown through approved symbols or written indications on at least one shoe of the pair. Retailers should also assess whether the required explanation of footwear symbols is displayed at the place of sale.
KKDİK and Chemical Compliance for Textiles and Leather
Fashion compliance is not limited to the label. Türkiye’s KKDİK Regulation on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals may be relevant to dyes, leather treatment, coatings, prints, plastics, accessories, metal components and textile finishing.
Certain textile, clothing and leather products are inspected at import for compliance with chemical limits designed to protect human health, safety, the environment and consumers. Importers should obtain supplier declarations, testing information and change-control commitments that match the goods actually shipped.
Children’s clothing and footwear deserve additional attention. Cords, drawstrings, small components, chemicals and construction may create heightened product-safety exposure, and an unsafe product may be publicly listed or recalled.
Importing Fashion Products: TAREKS, Registration, Origin and Trade Remedies
Import analysis should begin before shipment. The relevant review may include GTIP classification, customs value, origin, duties, additional customs duties, preferential treatment, import registration, TAREKS, product safety, chemical compliance, surveillance and anti-dumping measures.
TAREKS is Türkiye’s risk-based electronic trade-control system. It focuses controls on products and shipments identified as higher risk, and it may operate alongside ordinary customs procedures. Certain textile, apparel and leather imports may also be subject to registration under the applicable import-surveillance communiqué. The current rule set should be checked for the product and country of origin at the time of shipment.
Origin can affect duties, surveillance, safeguards, quotas, anti-dumping and other trade-policy instruments. An A.TR movement certificate demonstrates free circulation within the Türkiye–EU Customs Union framework; it is not, by itself, a certificate of origin.
Manufacturing, Sourcing and Subcontracting in Türkiye
Türkiye is a major sourcing and production jurisdiction for international fashion companies. A short purchase order rarely allocates the risks created by changing fabrics, dyes, factories, subcontractors, labels or production methods.
Specifications and quality
Technical packs, approved samples, materials, size and colour tolerances, workmanship, testing, inspections, defects and rework.
Compliance and traceability
Fibre composition, restricted substances, product safety, labels, packaging, records, audit rights and change control.
Supply-chain control
Approved facilities, subcontracting consent, labour requirements, confidentiality, brand materials and responsibility for factory failures.
Commercial allocation
Capacity, delivery, Incoterms, title, risk, recalls, excess production, branded surplus, rejection and indemnification.
Private-label arrangements should separately address ownership and permitted use of patterns, technical drawings, textile prints, samples, packaging, labels, designs and production know-how. Unauthorized overruns, seconds sales or use of a brand’s materials should be expressly prohibited.
Trademarks, Fashion Designs and Anti-Counterfeiting
Fashion products often combine several forms of protection: the brand name and logo may be protected as trademarks; the appearance of a product or collection may qualify for industrial-design protection; creative materials may involve copyright; and confidential production information may be protected contractually.
Rights strategy should be planned before launch in Türkiye, including clearance, filing classes, ownership, licensing, quality control and enforcement. A brand should also consider online sellers, marketplace listings, customs measures, parallel distribution, counterfeit products and evidence preservation.
Designers, employees, freelancers, photographers, illustrators and agencies may all contribute to a collection. Written agreements should address ownership, permitted uses, portfolio rights, confidentiality, moral and economic rights where relevant, and delivery of source files or working materials.
Fashion E-Commerce, Consumer Sales and Market Entry
A foreign fashion brand may enter Türkiye through direct cross-border e-commerce, a marketplace, distributor, franchise, wholesale, department-store concession, Turkish subsidiary, own stores or licensing. Each model changes the allocation of import, product, consumer, data, advertising and return obligations.
Turkish-facing online sales should be reviewed for distance-contract information, consumer rights, pricing, returns, delivery, payment, complaints, privacy and marketplace responsibilities. Online product-safety compliance is separate from checkout compliance: products offered through distance communication are also subject to market-surveillance rules.
Before launch, a business should decide who imports the goods, who handles returns and complaints, how customer data is processed, how product information is kept consistent and how termination, inventory and unsold branded products are managed.
Influencer Campaigns, Discounts and Sustainability Claims
Fashion marketing commonly involves influencers, targeted advertising, discount campaigns, social commerce and environmental claims. The 2026 changes to Türkiye’s commercial advertising framework introduced requirements concerning influencer advertising, targeted and AI-supported advertising, discounts, environmental claims and consumer reviews.
Influencer agreements should cover clear advertising disclosures, approved claims, product descriptions, discount evidence, campaign dates, content approval, intellectual property, brand guidelines, exclusivity, correction or removal and responsibility for regulatory responses.
Claims such as “sustainable”, “eco-friendly”, “green”, “recycled”, “carbon neutral” or “zero waste” should be specific and supported. The business should retain evidence showing what the claim relates to and why it is accurate. A broad or vague claim can create greenwashing and unfair-commercial-practice exposure.
Key Contracts for Fashion and Apparel Businesses
Fashion contracts should reflect the product, supply chain and sales model. Depending on the business, the contract set may include:
Manufacturing and supply agreements
Product specifications, quality, testing, compliance, delivery, inspection, defects, recalls, subcontracting and change control.
Private-label agreements
Ownership and permitted use of designs, samples, patterns, labels, packaging, know-how, overruns and branded surplus.
Distribution, franchise and agency
Territory, channels, exclusivity, targets, pricing, marketing, stock, termination, post-termination sales and competition issues.
Designer and creative agreements
Collections, industrial design, copyright, trademarks, confidentiality, source materials, credit and portfolio use.
Influencer and advertising agreements
Disclosure, approved claims, discounts, content ownership, approvals, removal, correction and regulatory liability.
Marketplace and logistics agreements
Online product information, consumer communications, fulfilment, inventory, returns, data, warehousing and recalls.
Frequently Asked Questions About Fashion Law in Türkiye
What laws apply to apparel and fashion products in Türkiye?
The framework may include Law No. 7223 on Product Safety and Technical Regulations, textile and footwear labelling rules, KKDİK, customs and import controls, the Industrial Property Code, consumer and e-commerce legislation, advertising rules and commercial contracts.
What must appear on a textile label in Türkiye?
Textile products within scope must identify their fibre composition using legally recognised fibre names and required percentages. The marking should be durable, readable, visible, accessible and securely attached, and the information must be accurate.
Are footwear labels regulated separately in Türkiye?
Yes. Footwear has a separate labelling framework for materials used in the upper, lining and sock, and outer sole. The required symbols or written indications and the retail explanation of those symbols should be reviewed before sale.
Can textile and clothing imports be inspected for chemicals?
Yes. Certain textile, clothing and leather products may be inspected at import for compliance with chemical limits under KKDİK. Importers should obtain suitable supplier and testing information.
What is TAREKS for fashion imports?
TAREKS is Türkiye’s risk-based electronic trade-control system for products subject to import and export inspection. Apparel imports may also involve registration, product-safety or chemical controls depending on the product and current rules.
Who is responsible when an imported fashion product is unsafe?
Responsibility depends on the roles of the manufacturer, authorised representative, importer and distributor and on the supply-chain facts. A contract may allocate commercial costs but cannot remove statutory obligations.
How should a fashion manufacturing agreement allocate risk?
It should cover specifications, samples, materials, testing, restricted substances, labelling, quality, inspections, defects, rework, subcontracting, IP, delivery, Incoterms, recalls, indemnities, confidentiality and change control.
Can fashion brands advertise sustainability claims in Türkiye?
Environmental claims should be specific, clear and substantiated. The advertiser should identify what the claim relates to, retain supporting evidence and review the campaign under commercial advertising and unfair commercial practices rules.
How can a foreign fashion brand enter the Turkish market?
Models include cross-border e-commerce, marketplaces, distributors, franchise, wholesale, concessions, a Turkish subsidiary, own stores or licensing. The choice should be made together with an analysis of import, product, IP, consumer, data, advertising and termination issues.
Legal Counsel for Fashion Brands and Apparel Businesses
A luxury brand opening stores in Istanbul, a European company sourcing garments from Bursa, a Turkish manufacturer producing private-label goods and an online retailer shipping individual orders face different legal risks. The advice should reflect the product, materials, manufacturing model, origin, import structure, distribution channel, consumer sales model, IP portfolio and marketing strategy.
Turkish Trade Lawyers advises fashion brands, textile and apparel manufacturers, footwear businesses, importers, distributors, retailers, e-commerce operators and investors on product compliance, customs, contracts, IP, e-commerce, advertising, market entry, investigations and disputes.
