Import/export document pack per shipment in Türkiye: what the broker and the bank need

A shipment clears Turkish customs and its payment clears the bank on the strength of a dozen documents that must agree with each other to the kilogram and the kuruş. Most delays are not caused by customs rules but by a packing list that disagrees with the invoice or an origin certificate issued for the wrong consignee. This guide lists the documents per shipment, who issues each, what the licensed customs broker does with them and what the bank checks.

The core documents, shipment by shipment

Depending on the goods: insurance certificate, analysis or conformity certificates, TAREKS control for product-safety-regulated goods, phytosanitary or veterinary certificates, and import licences for controlled items.

GTİP: the twelve-digit code that decides everything

Türkiye classifies goods under a twelve-digit code (GTİP) built on the six-digit Harmonised System. The code determines the customs duty, KDV rate, any additional financial obligation, whether an A.TR or EUR.1 brings a preference, and which conformity checks apply. The exporter's HS code from the other country is a starting point, not an answer; Turkish sub-positions differ. A GTİP pre-check before shipping avoids the two expensive outcomes: a declaration amended at the border, or a preference claimed that the goods did not qualify for.

The customs broker's role

Only a licensed customs broker (gümrük müşaviri) or the company's own authorised employee may lodge a customs declaration. The broker reviews the documents, classifies the goods, calculates duties and taxes, files the declaration in the Ministry of Trade's BİLGE system, handles inspection and releases the goods. The broker works from the documents you provide; a mismatch in weight or value stops the file and the broker charges for the extra work. Our document pack exists to deliver a consistent, complete set to the broker you retain before the goods arrive, not after.

What the bank checks before paying or receiving

For every import payment and export receipt, the bank's compliance desk reconciles the transfer with the invoice, the transport document and, for imports, the customs declaration. Under the export regime, export proceeds must be brought into Türkiye and documented within the statutory period, and the bank matches each receipt to a declaration. Documents that agree with each other and with the payment clear the same day; see our guide to bank compliance questions for the case where they do not.

Red flags we screen before the pack leaves

• Invoice consignee or notify party differs from the importer of record.
• Net and gross weights on packing list, CMR and invoice do not reconcile.
• Origin certificate issued for a country other than where the goods were actually produced.
• A.TR used for goods that are not in free circulation in the EU, or for agricultural goods.
• Incoterms on the invoice differ from the ones on the contract or proforma, changing the customs value.
• Dual-use or sanctioned-route indicators in the transport chain that the bank will see.

Each shipment gets a regime checklist, a consistency check across all documents, a GTİP pre-check, an origin and preferential-document plan, a red-flag screen, coordination with your broker and forwarder, and a bank-ready file.

State fees and notarial tariffs are paid by you directly to the state or to the notary; they never pass through us and we receive nothing from any notary. The figures above are the official 2026 tariff, last checked 24.10.2026.

Sources

• ticaret.gov.tr — Ministry of Trade: customs regimes, BİLGE, GTİP tariff schedule
• mevzuat.gov.tr — Customs Law 4458; Export Regime Decree; Decree 32 on export proceeds
• resmigazete.gov.tr — Annual İthalat Rejimi Kararı and customs tariff schedule
• gib.gov.tr — e-Fatura export invoice, KDV at import

Questions