New Steps for The Facilitation Of EU-Turkey Trade Relations: Successful Closure of Eur 1.4 Million EU-Funded Project In Support Of Turkish Accreditation Agency
The Technical Assistance for Enhancement of TÜRKAK’s Capacity in Accreditation of Conformity Assessment Bodies Project funded by the EU and implemented by the Turkish Accreditation Agency ended with successful results. The closing event of the project took place on 8 March 2022 with participation of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and the President of TÜRKAK, Faruk Kaymakcı and Bartosz Przywara, Economic Counsellor and Head of Trade and other EU Policies Section of the EU Delegation to Turkey. The project aimed at strengthening the technical capacity of the Turkish Accreditation Agency in line with the new developments in the field of accreditation in both the European Union and the international arena. The EUR 1.4 million project was financed under the EU's Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA-II).
The project prepared guidelines for accreditation schemes of several pieces of EU legislation, provided trainings to Turkish Accreditation Agency (TÜRKAK) staff and organised awareness-raising seminars for conformity assessment bodies, universities, public sector organisations and NGOs working in the field. It has helped TÜRKAK to update its knowledge and extend its scope of services to new and emerging areas in line with green and digital transformation.
Accreditation is one of the most important vehicles of international trade. Conformity assessment bodies (testing laboratories and certification bodies) check and certify if products and services are in conformity with specific quality, security or safety requirements. Accreditation bodies, such as TÜRKAK, provide assurance that the conformity assessment body is impartial and independent from the manufacturer or supplier and is competent. Through accreditation and multilateral agreements between accreditation bodies, products and services are accepted across borders, with no need for further testing and certifications. In this sense, TÜRKAK , which is a signatory to the multilateral agreements of the European Accreditation Cooperation EA, provides key assurance for the enforcement of aligned EU technical legislation in free movement of goods and helps facilitating trade between EU and Turkey. Products that are tested and certified by Turkish conformity assessment bodies accredited by TÜRKAK are accepted in the EU without further tests and certificates. Hence, TÜRKAK and accreditation are key facilitators in EU-Turkey trade relations under the Customs Union.
The EU is Turkey’s largest trade partner and Turkey is the sixth largest trade partner of the EU. According to recent EUROSTAT data, EU-Turkey total trade volume exceeded 157 billion EUR in 2021.Turkey’s quality infrastructure organisations such as the Turkish Accreditation Agency, the Turkish Standards Institution (TSE) and the National Metrology Institute have been playing a key role in this success, operating in the background of this impressive trade performance.
The EU has been providing Turkey with extensive technical assistance programmes on the acquis chapter of Free Movement of Goods under the MEDA and IPA programmes. The EU assistance in this field since 2002 has amounted to over EUR 60 million in total. Turkey has made concrete achievements under the chapter also thanks to this assistance, reaching a high level of harmonisation of technical legislation and EU standards related to goods.
Background:
Title of the action: Technical Assistance for Enhancement of TÜRKAK’s Capacity in Accreditation of Conformity Assessment Bodies
Turkish beneficiary: Turkish Accreditation Agency TÜRKAK
EU budget (EUR): EU contribution is EUR 1,303,159.5; EU contribution is 90 % of total cost.
Summary of the Action
This action aims to contribute to quality infrastructure in the field of accreditation services in Turkey and specifically to enhance the technical capacity of the Turkish Accreditation Agency in line with the new developments in the field of accreditation in both the European Union and the international arena.
Main activities are : need analysis, training of related staff and assessors of TURKAK on general and sector-specific accreditation procedures; workshops for each sector; study visits; development of accreditation schemes and guidelines on sector-specific accreditation procedures and awareness-raising actions.
For further information, please visit project website: https://raeturkak.org/homepage/ or contact the Delegation:
Ela Yazıcı İnan- Sector Manager
T +90 312 459 87 00
Miray Akdağ - Press and Information Officer
M +90 532 624 93 56 / T +90 312 459 88 77
