Legal regime of the application process for GMO products in Türkiye

In Turkiye, in accordance with EU harmonization laws, Biosafety Act No.

5977 entered into force on 18.09.2010. The basic legislation regarding

the application process is composed of the Biosafety Act, Regulations on

Genetically Modified Organisms and Their Products, and Regulations on

Working Procedures and Principles of Biosafety Board and Committees.

Biosafety legislation foresees a special application procedure for GMO

food, food products, feed, and other products. The application regulated

in the Biosafety Law is a special administrative procedure in nature.

The primary objective of this study is to explain the legal regime of

this application procedure. While explaining this issue, relevant

limitations will be discussed in detail, and solutions will be presented

for such limitations. This study was divided into two parts. In the

first part, basic concepts related to the application will be examined.

This section includes the scope and nature of the application, the

prohibitions, and exceptions related to the application, the applicant,

and the relevant authorities. In the second part, the application

process will be examined. Under this heading, there are notifications to

the applicant and reasons for rejection of the application, evaluation

of the application, final decision stage, and simplified procedure.