The Turkey-EU customs union has eliminated tariffs, quantitative restrictions and measures of equivalent effect in trade in industrial products to ensure the free movement of goods. As a result of the customs union, Turkey has opened its internal market to competition in the EU and third countries, while guaranteeing its exporters free access to the EU market. In addition, Turkey is committed to adapting to the preferential regimes that the EU applies to third countries and to harmonising its legislation with the EU acquis in a wide range of areas, including technical standards and regulations, as well as competition policy. However, agricultural trade is carried out between the contracting parties under the preferential system; trade in steel products is governed by the free trade agreement between Turkey and the European Coal and Steel Community. The agreements provide for the abolition of all tariffs on the import and export of industrial products, including fish and other seafood, originating in an EFTA state or Turkey. As of 1 January 1999, all industrial products originating in EFTA states have duty-free access to Turkey under the existing agreement. Industrial products originating in Turkey have been granted duty-free access to EFTA states since the existing agreement came into force on 1 April 1992. Trade in agricultural commodities is covered by three bilateral agricultural agreements negotiated between the EFTA state concerned, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland/Liechtenstein and Turkey. These agreements are part of the instruments for setting up the free trade area between the EFTA countries and Turkey. They provide for significant concessions on both sides, taking into account the respective sensitivities. Each agreement contains specific rules of origin, usually based on “fully preserved” criteria.

The customs union came into force on 31 December 1995. It applies to all industrial goods, but does not concern agriculture (except processed agricultural products), services or public procurement. Bilateral trade concessions apply to agricultural products as well as to coal and steel products. It describes the bilateral and multilateral trade agreements to which that country belongs, including with the United States. Includes websites and other resources that allow U.S. companies to get more information about how they can use these agreements. The rules of origin (Annex I) are governed by the regional convention on the rules of pan-European origin. This will allow materials to be accumulated from the EFTA, Turkey and other Pan-Euro Med Member States as soon as the relevant agreements between the parties concerned have been concluded. The agreement contains detailed provisions on trade facilitation (Annex VI), including certain elements of the WTO.

Turkey, a party to the 1947 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) since 1995, implements free trade agreements in accordance with Article XXIV of the 1947 GATT. Under this article, Turkey could give its trading partners more favourable treatment within the framework of a customs union or free trade area, without extending this treatment to all WTO members, subject to certain conditions. Turkey is a member of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (Euromed) and should therefore conclude free trade agreements with all other Mediterranean partners in order to create a Euro-Mediterranean free trade area. The provisions relating to the protection of intellectual property rights (Article 15 and a new Annex XII) concern, among other things, patents, trademarks, copyrights and geographical indications. The agreement covers trade in industrial products, fish and seafood products and processed agricultural products. The transition period ended on January 1, 1999. In addition, bilateral agricultural agreements have been concluded between the various EFTA states and Turkey, which are part of the instruments for creating the free trade area.