DECISION ON SUPPORTING PARTICIPATION IN TRADE FAIRS HELD ABROAD

FIRST SECTION
Purpose, Scope, Basis, and Definitions

Purpose

ARTICLE 1 – (1) This Decree aims to contribute to the promotion of Turkish export products in foreign markets and increase exports by supporting the fair participations realized abroad by participants and the promotional expenses made by organizers.

Scope

ARTICLE 2 – (1) Companies established under the provisions of the Turkish Commercial Code and members of an exporters’ association, as well as producer/manufacturer organizations resident in Türkiye, benefit from the supports within the scope of this Decree.

Basis

ARTICLE 3 – (1) This Decree has been prepared based on the “Decision on State Aids Directed to Exports” put into effect by the Cabinet Decree dated 27/12/1994 and numbered 94/6401.

Definitions

ARTICLE 4 – (1) In this Decree;

a) Ministry: Refers to the Ministry of Economy,
b) Organizer: Refers to companies or organizations authorized to organize fairs abroad, for which the Ministry has issued temporary documents or certificates within the framework of Communiqué No. 2010/5 on Organizing and Evaluating Fairs Abroad,
c) Participant: Refers to companies established under the provisions of the Turkish Commercial Code and members of an exporters’ association, as well as producer/manufacturer organizations resident in Türkiye, participating in international fairs abroad organized within the scope of this Decree or in sectoral international fairs abroad determined and announced by the Ministry (General Directorate of Exports) to be supported,

ç) Producer/Manufacturer Organization: Refers to sectoral organizations (promotion groups, federations, unions, associations) that bring together and represent producer and manufacturer companies operating in the same production branch, as well as Exporters’ Associations,

d) International Fair Organization: Refers to Turkish Export Products Fair, Sectoral Turkish Export Products Fair, Sectoral Fair with Foreign Company Participation, and National Participation organization held abroad under the coordination of an organizer appointed by the Ministry for the purpose of promoting and marketing Turkish export products,
e) National Participation: Refers to collective participations of Turkish companies in general or sectoral international fairs held abroad under the coordination of an organizer appointed by the Ministry,
f) Turkish Export Products Fair: Refers to international fairs organized by organizers solely for the promotion of Turkish export products,
g) Sectoral Turkish Export Products Fair: Refers to international fairs organized by organizers solely for the promotion of sectoral Turkish export products,

ğ) Sectoral Fair with Foreign Company Participation: Refers to sectoral international fairs organized by organizers and realized with foreign participants in addition to participants,

h) Individual Participation: Refers to direct participation of participants in fairs listed in the list of sectoral international fairs to be supported, held abroad and determined by the Ministry (General Directorate of Exports) based on requests from General Secretariats of Exporters’ Associations or ex officio, and announced on the official website of the Ministry,

ı) Amount Subject to Support: Refers to the amount to be paid to the participant on a square meter basis, determined by the Ministry (General Directorate of Exports) and announced on the official website of the Ministry, corresponding to expenses related to space rental, transportation, travel, and stand,

i) Circular: Refers to the Implementation Procedures and Principles Circular of this Decree.

SECOND SECTION
Scope of Support

Supporting Fair Participations

ARTICLE 5 – (1) Fair participations realized by participants within the scope of international fair organizations and individual participations are supported taking into account the size of the participant’s stand area in square meters.

(2) The amount subject to support in question is determined separately for each fair in international fair organizations. In sectoral international fairs where individual participation is supported, it can be determined separately for each fair or on a country and/or sector basis.

Supporting Organizer Promotion Activities Related to International Fair Organizations

ARTICLE 6 – (1) Expenses incurred by organizers appointed by the Ministry for promotion activities carried out abroad for the purpose of promoting Turkish export products, sectors, participants, or the international fair organization, as specified in the Circular, are supported at a rate of 75%. The support amount cannot exceed 320,000 Turkish Liras if the international fair is of general nature, and 500,000 Turkish Liras if it is of sectoral nature.

(2) In sectoral fairs, based on the pre-approval to be given to the promotion project to be submitted to the Ministry (General Directorate of Exports), in addition to the support amount of 500,000 Turkish Liras mentioned in the first paragraph; 75% of the expenses to be made within the scope of the project are supported up to 320,000 Turkish Liras.

(3) For “Türkiye Brand” stands created by the organizer in international fair organizations determined by the Ministry (General Directorate of Exports) among the fairs listed in the international fair organizations list published by the Ministry, expenses related to space rental, stand construction, transportation, and organization are supported within the scope of the first and second paragraphs of this article. Projects related to “Türkiye Brand” stands must be approved by the Ministry (General Directorate of Exports) before the fair.

Support Upper Limits

ARTICLE 7 – (1) The support amount to be paid to the participant on a fair basis cannot exceed 50,000 Turkish Liras if the international fair is of general nature; 75,000 Turkish Liras if it is of sectoral nature; 250,000 Turkish Liras if it is one of the prestigious fairs determined by the Ministry (General Directorate of Exports).

(2) The amount subject to support cannot exceed 50% of the approximate total cost per square meter determined on a fair and/or country and/or sector basis, and 70% in target countries determined by the Ministry.

(3) A participant can benefit from prestigious fair participation support for fairs determined by the Ministry (General Directorate of Exports) up to 2 (two) times within a calendar year.

ARTICLE 8 – (1) The support upper limits included in this Decree are updated at the beginning of each calendar year by the rate of (CPI + D-PPI)/2.

THIRD SECTION
Various and Final Provisions

Implementation

ARTICLE 9 – (1) The information, documents, and other matters related to implementation requested to finalize support applications within the scope of this Decree are determined by the Circular to be issued by the Ministry.

Sanction

ARTICLE 10 – (1) If it is determined that an unfair and/or undue payment has been made to the participant or organizer within the scope of this Decree, the provisions of the Law No. 6183 on the Collection Procedure of Public Receivables are applied for the recovery process.

Authority

ARTICLE 11 – (1) The Ministry is authorized to determine the implementation procedures and principles regarding the matters regulated in this Decree, to give instructions regarding implementation, to examine and finalize force majeure, special and compulsory situations and disputes that may arise in implementation, to reduce support rates and upper limits if deemed necessary, to offset the amount of support to be paid against any public receivable, and to restrict the expenditure and support payment amounts to be evaluated within the scope of support within the framework of budget possibilities.

Repealed Legislation

ARTICLE 12 – (1) The Decision of the Para-Credit and Coordination Board dated 23/12/2009 and numbered 2009/11, and the Communiqué No. 2009/5 on Supporting Fair Participations Realized Abroad published in the Official Gazette dated 30/12/2009 and numbered 27448 based on this Decision are repealed.

(2) References made to the Communiqué No. 2009/5 on Supporting Fair Participations Realized Abroad in other legislative regulations are deemed to have been made to this Decree, effective from 01/07/2017.

TEMPORARY ARTICLE – The provisions of this Decree do not apply to applications related to participations in fairs that started before 01/07/2017.

Enforcement

ARTICLE 13 – (1) This Decree enters into force on 01/07/2017.

Execution

ARTICLE 14 – (1) The Minister of Economy executes this Decree.