Customs Warehousing and Free Zone Operations

Under the customs warehousing procedure, goods may be held without payment of duty for the period set out in the legislation; before that period expires, they must be assigned to a customs procedure. On the cost side, two items apply together: the warehouse operator's storage tariff and any additional services tied to the nature of the goods. As the period lengthens, the advantage of deferring duty competes with the storage cost; the break-even point is calculated from the value and volume of the goods.

Yes, partial release is the most widely used advantage of a customs warehouse. A declaration is filed for the relevant quantity at each release, and duty is paid only on the portion released. This eases cash flow for companies drawing raw materials according to a production schedule, as well as for importers with seasonal demand. The condition is that the warehouse stock records match the declarations exactly.

The rule is that the goods must be assigned to a customs procedure before the period expires: release for free circulation, re-export, or, where the legislation allows, another procedure. If the period is exceeded, the goods may become subject to disposal (tasfiye) proceedings, at which point control passes out of the company's hands. This is why the expiry date is put on the calendar and the decision is planned ahead of the final day, not on it.

The operator and the party responsible for the goods are liable for their condition in the warehouse; loss and damage must be reported to the customs authority. In cases of force majeure or loss arising from the natural characteristics of the goods, the assessment set out in the legislation is applied, but the authority decides the outcome — it cannot be said in advance that no duty will arise. For cold-chain products, keeping temperature records is decisive in this assessment.

No. Chemicals require hazardous-materials conditions, seafood and fresh produce require cold storage, and items such as hospital equipment require suitable climate control and security. Choosing a customs warehouse is therefore a question of suitability before it is a question of price; goods placed in the wrong facility risk both damage and non-compliance.

Entry from the free zone into the customs territory of Türkiye is treated as an import, and the related duties and permits arise at that stage. In other words, waiting in the free zone does not remove the duty — it postpones the moment it arises. If the goods undergo processing in the free zone, origin and value are assessed separately as well.