Turkey on Tuesday ended a simplified customs system that let shoppers bring in low-cost items ordered online from abroad with minimal paperwork, a change expected to raise the final price and slow delivery for many small purchases.
Presidential Decision No. 10813, published in the Official Gazette, removes the provision that allowed non-commercial parcels arriving by post or express cargo to be cleared under simplified customs declarations. The change takes effect February 1, 2026, according to the Trade Ministry.
The Trade Ministry said overseas e-commerce purchases can still enter Turkey, but they will have to be imported through standard customs procedures instead of the simplified system.
Under the simplified system, flat tax rates of 30 percent applied to goods arriving from European Union countries and 60 percent to items from elsewhere. Products listed in the Special Consumption Tax Law would face an additional 20 percent levy on top of the flat rates, pushing total duty on some non-EU goods to as high as 80 percent.
The decision ends a system widely used by Turkish consumers to order low-cost items from international e-commerce platforms such as Temu, AliExpress and Shein. Turkey had previously reduced the threshold for the simplified system from 150 euros to 30 euros before ending it entirely with the latest amendment.
The Trade Ministry had already narrowed the scope of simplified customs procedures in recent months. Under a circular issued on October 20, 2025, toys, footwear and leather goods were excluded from the simplified system, citing high noncompliance rates and public health concerns.
Business groups have long argued that the exemption encouraged what they describe as de facto commercial imports under the guise of personal shopping. İstanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO) Chairman Şekib Avdagiç said in October that China was seeking to expand direct-to-consumer sales to 35 to 40 percent of its total exports over the next 15 to 20 years, posing a growing threat to countries like Turkey.
With China’s exports projected to rise to $5 to $6 trillion, Avdagiç had warned that nearly $2 trillion worth of goods could be sold directly to global consumers, bypassing traditional import procedures.
“Shopping from platforms such as Temu and Shein has moved beyond personal needs and become commercialized,” he said at the time, calling for the limit to be reduced to zero.
Political scientist Evren Balta Paker said the regulation would disproportionately affect China-based platforms. Writing on X, she noted that about 90 percent of low-value packages entering the European Union originate from China, with a comparable share in the United States.
She said that while the United States has moved to revoke its high-value de minimis exemption targeting platforms such as Temu and Shein, the European Union has opted for a more gradual approach, introducing a fixed per-package customs fee for low-value shipments rather than ending exemptions outright.
Critics of Turkey’s move argue that ending the simplified system could place a burden on consumers facing economic pressure, increasing the final cost of even modest purchases. Others have noted that bulk imports shipped in containers can face lower effective duties, creating disparities that may favor large importers over individual consumers and small online sellers.
In a statement issued the same day, the Trade Ministry said the regulation does not amount to an import ban but ends the use of simplified customs declarations for overseas e-commerce purchases.
The ministry said laboratory tests and inspections carried out on products purchased from cross-border e-commerce platforms found that 81 percent of 182 items examined failed to meet safety standards, with some containing toxic or carcinogenic substances. It said the findings were consistent with results previously published by European consumer groups.