SIGNIFICANT AMENDMENTS ON THE REGULATION ON THE COMMERCIAL ADVERTISEMENT AND UNFAIR COMMERCIAL PRACTICES

The Ministry of Trade amended the Regulation on Commercial Advertisement and Unfair Commercial Practices (the “Regulation”).

The amending Regulation was published in the Official Gazette numbered 31737 on 1 February 2022 (the “Amending Regulation”) (in Turkish, “Ticari Reklam ve Haksız Ticari Uygulamalar Yönetmeliğinde Değişiklik Yapılmasına Dair Yönetmelik”) and it has been entered into force on 1 March 2022.

What Does the Amending Regulation Bring?

Within the scope of the Amending Regulation, certain provisions are repealed, some new provisions are put into effect and certain additions are made to the current provisions.

The main changes brought by the Amending Regulation are as follows:

• As per the Article 5 of the Regulation, the prohibition on advertisements containing expressions and images of patients before and after treatment is repealed.
• As per the Article 13 of the Regulation, notion of personalized price (in Turkish, “kişiselleştirilmiş fiyat“) is defined and stated that the price offered through analyzing the purchasing behavior and other consumer personal data regarding a good or service is considered as personalized price. So long as such price is offered to the consumer, the information regarding this scope and the current sales price and personalized price determined by the seller or supplier for such good or service will be included in the same place.
• Discount sale advertisements must include the sales price prior to the discount along with the period of discount. Accordingly, the sales price prior to the discount will be determined on the basis of the lowest price of the relevant good or service within thirty (30) days before the date of the discount. Regarding the requirements, the burden of proof is on the advertiser.
• Advertisements where a good or service is on sale with a bound credit must include information such as term of the loan, interest rate, monthly and yearly percentage of value of total cost to the consumer, refund terms to be supplied to the consumer in order for consumers to get more detailed and clear information in the field where the advertisements is published or on a website or pop up screen via a link or warning sign where consumers can be directed and gain more information.
• Advertisements related with the pharmaceutical products, human medicinal products, medical devices, health services, foods, supplements, cosmetics and hygiene products, biocidal products, tobacco products and alcoholic beverages must also comply with provisions regarding advertising and promotion in the relevant laws and regulations.
• Other amendment within the scope of the relevant Amending Regulation; consumers must be informed about the criteria taken into account in the ranking of goods and services offered for sale on the internet. Also, it is now mandatory to include the phrase “advertisement” in the ranking based on advertisements or sponsorships agreements.
• The concerned sellers and service providers shall have the right to respond to the complaints at least seventy-two (72) hours before they are published. The reviews must not be published before such period, and reviews that do not reflect the truth will not be published.
• According to the amendments, the Advertisement Board (in Turkish, “Reklam Kurulu”) shall prepare the guidelines in order to protect the consumers against commercial advertising and unfair commercial practices and will be published on the Ministry of Trade’s website. The published guidelines will be implemented together with the provisions of this Amending Regulation.
• Besides, the following has been regarded as deceitful commercial practices (in Turkish, “aldatıcı ticari uygulamalar”):
  1. buying tickets for events such as sports, theater and meeting in excess of specified limits by using
     software that automates the buying process and reproposing such to consumers or reselling at a higher
     price and
  2. using methods such as guiding interface designs, options or statements related to goods or services on
     e-commerce, which negatively affect the volition of consumers to make decisions or choices, or which aim
     to change consumer decisions for the seller or provider.