Binding Tariff Information (BTB) is the administrative decision made by the Ministry (General Directorate of Customs) or the Regional Directorates of Customs and Trade authorized by the Ministry, upon the written or electronic request of the person, regarding the classification of the goods in the Customs Tariff Schedule.
BTB is regulated by the Istanbul, Aegean, Central Anatolia, Central Mediterranean, Eastern Marmara and Uludağ Regional Directorates of Customs and Trade. BTB is provided free of charge to the requester. However, the costs incurred by the customs authorities, especially due to the chemical analysis or appraisal of the goods or their return to the requestor, shall be borne by the requesting party.
BTB application is made for only one item. The term "item of goods" is understood to mean goods that are in the same tariff position sub-explanation in the Turkish Customs Tariff Schedule and are subject to the same legal or preferential tax rate. BTB application cannot be made for the goods that fall into the tariff positions listed in subparagraph (a) of the first paragraph of Article 196 of the Customs Regulation, which are not in packages made for retail sale.
If it is later understood that the goods are within this scope, the application is rejected. Applications for goods that do not have information on them or on their packaging to identify their identity may be rejected if identification is not physically possible. BTB application is made to the authorized customs and trade regional directorate either electronically by entering data into the BTB Program or in writing with a form in accordance with the application form sample in Annex-1 of the Customs Regulation. As an application form, the computer printout obtained after data entry to the BTB Program can also be used.
In case the BTB application is made in writing with the form, all the documents in the annex and photographs taken from different angles that will enable the identification of the goods are submitted to the regional directorate, where the application is made, together with the paper copy. A person can only apply for one BTB for the same item. If it is determined that there is a valid BTB for the same item on behalf of a person and it is determined that a BTB has been issued again, all BTBs issued for the same item on behalf of that person are void starting from the date of issue.
For the goods that are unquestionably the same as the goods subject to a valid BTB by the customs administrations, classification should be made in accordance with the determination in the BTB. BTB binds the customs administrations only about the tariff position of the goods and only for the goods subject to the customs procedures to be completed after the date of information is given. For this, the declarant must prove that there is compatibility in all respects between the goods declared during the customs procedures and the goods defined in the information given.
BTB is valid for 6 years from the date of issue.
The purposes of the BTB implementation are: a) To harmonize the classification by applying the classification rules correctly and uniformly, and thus to ensure that the foreign trade regime is applied correctly and equally among the foreign traders, b) To accelerate the declaration process and customs procedures, thereby enabling customs control and international trade. To facilitate as much as possible and reduce the cost of foreign trade transactions, c) To reduce the conflicts between the traders and the customs administration arising from the tariff position of the goods, ç) To allocate sufficient time during customs procedures for the inspection and control of high-risk goods by reducing the time losses arising from the classification problem of the goods during customs procedures, therefore, to ensure that the customs inspections can be carried out selectively and more effectively, e) To ensure that the profitability of an international trade transaction and the possibility of its implementation can be predicted beforehand.