A customs declaration is the official statement submitted to the customs office by the obligor or its representative to place goods under a customs procedure such as import, export, transit or customs warehousing. In Türkiye it is lodged electronically via the BİLGE system; from the moment it is registered, the value, GTİP (Turkish HS/tariff code) and taxes of the goods are determined on the basis of this declaration.
What does the declaration bind in legal terms?
Article 58 of Customs Law No. 4458 (Gümrük Kanunu) requires goods intended to be placed under a customs procedure to be declared for that procedure; Article 59 lists that the declaration may be made in writing, electronically or orally. The declaration form is the written or electronic version of this statement. Articles 60–65 of the Law regulate the process step by step:
- Registration (Art. 61): A declaration meeting the conditions is accepted by the customs office and given a number. As a rule, taxes are calculated according to the situation on the date of registration.
- Amendment (Art. 63): The declarant may request a correction after registration. No amendment can be made after the office has announced that it will inspect the goods, has established that the declaration is incorrect or has released the goods.
- Invalidation (Art. 64): Invalidation may be requested if it is documented that the goods were placed under the procedure by mistake or that the procedure can no longer be applied; except in the cases listed in the regulation, the declaration cannot be invalidated after the goods have been released.
- Verification (Art. 65): The office may examine the documents, inspect the goods and take samples.
Who lodges the declaration?
The declarant is the person who places the goods under the procedure: the importer, the exporter or, in transit, the principal. Under Article 5 of the Law, the declarant may carry out the formalities itself or use a representative. In direct representation, the customs broker acts in the name and on behalf of the obligor; in indirect representation, it acts in its own name but on behalf of the obligor. In Türkiye, most declarations are lodged through customs brokers (gümrük müşaviri). A broker who signs the declaration may be held liable to the customs administration in cases where it knew or should have known of a situation leading to a loss of tax.
What information does the declaration contain?
The declaration consists of 54 boxes, similar to the layout of the Single Administrative Document (SAD) in the EU. The boxes most frequently checked are:
| Box | Content |
|---|---|
| 1 | Declaration type (EX for export, IM for import) |
| 2 / 8 | Consignor or exporter / consignee |
| 14 | Declarant or representative |
| 20 | Delivery terms (Incoterms) |
| 22 | Currency and total invoice amount |
| 31 / 33 | Packages and description of goods / commodity code (GTİP) |
| 34 | Country of origin |
| 35 / 38 | Gross weight / net weight |
| 37 | Procedure code |
| 44 | Additional information and documents produced |
| 47 | Calculation of taxes |
How the procedure box is read is explained in the customs procedure code entry, and the logic of the commodity code in the GTİP entry.
How does the electronic declaration work?
- The invoice, packing list, transport document, origin documents and permits are collected.
- The broker or the obligor creates and submits the declaration via the BİLGE system; the documents are uploaded electronically.
- The system registers the declaration and, based on risk analysis, assigns it to a control channel: in the red channel a document check and physical inspection are carried out, in the yellow channel a document check; in the green channel the goods are processed directly.
- For imports, the taxes are assessed and paid.
- When the checks are complete, the goods are released for imports, and exit approval is given for exports.
What types are there?
The most common types are declarations for release for free circulation (import), export, transit, customs warehousing, inward and outward processing and temporary admission. The list is in the types of customs declarations entry. The declaration should not be confused with the summary declaration lodged by the carrier: the summary declaration notifies the arrival of the goods, while the customs declaration determines the procedure.
Common mistakes
- A mismatch between the invoice amount and the declared value
- Underpaid tax or a missed permit due to a wrong GTİP
- Gross and net weights contradicting the transport document
- Delivery terms entered differently from the contract
The declaration process is the core of the customs brokerage and import customs clearance services.