The Ministry of Commerce released an announcement last week, announcing that as of November 1, 2022, the new application will start for phones brought with passengers from abroad. It will be checked whether the passenger has the right to bring a phone. It will not be allowed to bring more than one phone in three years. Detailed controls will be made at airports and customs gates. Closed box phones in suitcases will be checked.Bekir Can Uslu, General Manager of Customs Enforcement at the Ministry of Commerce, made statements that cleared the doubts about the new application. He explained how the controls will be made and how sanctions will be applied if more than one phone is brought.
According to passenger exemptions, a person has the right to bring a phone within three calendar years. This arrangement has been going on for a long time, but since it could not be followed who brought how many phones, control could not be made at the customs. A protocol was signed between the Ministry of Commerce and the Information Technologies and Communications Authority (BTK). Customs officers will be able to check how many phones a person has brought by examining BTK data. People who cross the border will be identified.
General Manager Uslu stated that the right to bring telephone calls could not be controlled until today and said:
“When a phone is brought from abroad, if the passenger has a phone with him, we considered it within the scope of exemption, if there is more than one phone, we subject it to customs procedures. A protocol was made between BTK and the Ministry of Commerce General Directorate of Customs Enforcement. A database was shared within the scope of the protocol. From now on, we will check whether our passengers coming from abroad have used their exemption right in the last three years. If he is found to have possession of it, he will be allowed to take his phone.”
What if more than one phone is brought in three years?
If it is determined that the passenger has used his exemption right in the last three years, the closed box phone will be kept in the customs warehouse. A warehouse receipt will be given to the passenger. Passengers will be able to pick up their phone and take it abroad within three months while going abroad. If the passenger will not go abroad, he will not be able to receive the phone in any way.
Only the second phone will be checked
According to Uslu’s statements, a check will not be made for a phone that the passenger brought with him. If there are two phones he brought with him, checks will be made for the second phone. Uslu stated the following on the subject:
“According to the decision of the Council of Ministers, the right to telephone is granted every three years. There is no problem with the personal phone he is using on it. There is no problem with the phone he is currently using, but we will check if an additional phone he brought with him is within the scope of the exemption. There is no harm in the phone he brought with him, but we will carry out the checks on the second phone we see with him.”
How will phones be detected?
The working principles of the system, which provides tax exemption control for mobile phones brought with passengers, were practically introduced to members of the press at the Arrivals Hall of Esenboğa Airport International Terminal. A sample application was also made to introduce the system.
While the luggage of the passengers coming from abroad was taken for x-ray scanning, the passenger who had a mobile phone in his suitcase was invited to the office section for exemption control. Here, it was questioned over the system whether the mobile phone in question had the right to exemption. While it was determined that the last passenger examined here brought a phone on September 19, 2022, it was reminded that the passenger has the right to bring a phone in three calendar years and that he will have the right to bring a phone from abroad on January 1, 2025. The passenger’s phone was taken to the warehouse for customs clearance as part of the sample application.
The new application will be implemented as of November 1, 2022. If it is determined that a passenger has brought more than one phone within three calendar years, the phone will be kept in the customs warehouse.
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