News & Articles

International Trade | Articles

Turkish Safeguard Legislation from the Perspective of the Latest PET Case

On 16 January 2018, the Turkish Ministry of Economy ("Ministry") published a new regulation which contains the rules and procedures regarding the application, allocation and usage of the tariff quotas to be issued with regards to the imports of polyethylene terephthalate (having a viscosity number of equal to or more than 78 ml/g) listed under 3907.61.00.00.00 CN Code ("PET").

Competition Law | Articles

Turkish Competition Authority – Initiating More Investigations – Now What?

There are several ways triggering the Turkish Competition Authority ("TCA") to open an inquiry. The procedure may begin as a result of the TCA receiving a complaint, a leniency application or otherwise being notified of an alleged violation, or the TCA acting on its own initiative to open an inquiry. The TCA can do this in two ways - it can technically either open a preliminary investigation or a full-fledge investigation (while the former usually takes one to two months, the latter takes six months to one year).

Competition Law | Articles

Highlights on the Turkish Competition Authority's Recent Investigations

The Turkish Competition Authority ("TCA") has been very active in the last three months. The TCA concluded ongoing investigations against companies active in iron- steel, alcoholic beverages and banking industries as well the pending merger review into the ro-ro transportation. In the meantime, the TCA launched investigations against; (i) Sahibinden.com into its alleged abuse of dominance, (ii) Sony Turkey into its alleged resale price maintenance practices, (iii) the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies into its alleged tying and discriminatory practices, and (iv) Radontek Medical into its alleged abusive practices.

International Trade | Articles

Is "Lesser Duty Rule" a Tightrope Walker's Pole in International Trade Remedies Law of Turkey?

The recent developments in the case law have led the trade remedy law practitioners to bring the Turkish Ministry of Economy's ("Ministry") approach towards the implementation of the "lesser duty rule" to their agenda. There are deep concerns and raising voices of the interested stakeholders from both sides (domestic industry and foreign traders) as to the benefits and drawbacks of its application.

Competition Law | Articles

Developments on Vertical Agreements in Turkey: Draft Guidelines are Open to Public Consultations

On 20 July 2017, the Turkish Competition Authority ("TCA") announced its draft amendments to the Guidelines on Vertical Agreements ("Draft Guidelines") on its website and provided the opportunity to the interested parties, including both the consumers and the undertakings, which are active in the markets that the amendments relate to, either to explain the market structure for better approach to be pursued or to raise the competitive concerns which may occur as a result of such amendments

Competition Law | Articles

New Anonymous Whistleblower Tool: Individuals in Fight Against Anti-Competitive Practices

Starting from 16 March 2017, individuals can help the European Commission ("EC") in uncovering cartels and other anti-competitive practices without disclosing their identity, made possible by the introduction of encrypted communications through an external service provider. Such positive step is expected to increase the effectiveness of the EC policies, as well as the workload of the competition authorities in their fight against anticompetitive practices.

Competition Law | Articles

Turkey Amends Merger Control Communiqué

The Turkish Competition Authority (the "TCA") amended the Communiqué governing the Turkish merger control implementation (Communiqué No. 2010/4 on Mergers and Acquisitions Requiring the Approval of the Competition Board on February 24, 2017. While there is no change to the currently applicable notification thresholds, the amendments concern the regime for successive transactions as well as for the change of control through stock exchange operations.

Competition Law | Articles

Turkish Competition Authority Fines Turkey's Dominant Alcoholic Drink Producer for Abuse

The Turkish Competition Authority ("TCA") has recently adopted a landmark decision in relation to Turkish traditional alcoholic beverages market (rakı). This decision is important from several perspectives.

Competition Law | News

Changes in Communiqué Concerning the Mergers and Acquisitions

Competition Law | Articles

Enforcing Competition Law in Labour Markets: A Question of Causality?

Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) has recently published an announcement on its website regarding the initiation of an in-depth investigation into anti-competitive practices in labour markets[1]. Interestingly enough, the Authority stated in its communication that “Considering the problems in the labour market and the benefits of dealing with such problems with competition law tools, TCA aims to protect the competitive structure of the labour market, being aware of the contribution of workers in the process of bringing together the consumer with products and services, especially in the digital age where creativity and innovative intelligence are prominent.”