Are you selling fashion or textiles that are produced in Turkey? UKFT has produced an update with recommendations for garment importers and brands relating to the labelling and use of “Made in Türkiye”.

“Made in Türkiye” or “Made in Turkey”?

Since 2020, the Turkish government has been pushing the international community to refer to its country by its Turkish language name of “Türkiye” rather than the official translations accepted and understood in those countries.  How should you label your products to reflect this?

In 2022, the United Nations accepted Turkey’s request to replace “Turkey” (the English word for the country) and “Republic of Turkey” with “Türkiye”.  This decision has galvanised opinion in Turkey and has given rise to calls to other nations that they should accept the Turkish name for that country rather than the one agreed and understood in their language.  But that does not automatically follow.

The rules on garment labelling in most countries require that, where it is deemed necessary, “Made in” labelling and other compulsory fibre and warning information must be in the official language(s) in use in those countries.

The US was the first to take a position on this. In April 2022, US customs declared they will NOT accept “Türkiye” on product labelling. Goods for the US market must be labelled, “Made in Turkey”.

For the time being, most other countries have not changed their rules so we advise the local languages should be used as required with the addition of Türkiye for example:

• FABRIQUÉ EN TÜRKIYE/TURQUIE
• FABRICADO EN TURQUÍA/ TURQUIE

For the UK market, the UK has not yet made a definitive rule but the Department of Business and  Trade has stated it is acceptable to use either “Made in Turkey” or “Made in Türkiye” for country-of-origin labelling for goods sold on the UK market.

Please note, the UK interim rules only affect goods placed on the UK market. If you are re-exporting goods you will need to check the local rules of the countries you are selling to.

If anything changes on the country name the UK accepts, business guidance from the Department for Business and Trade will be updated and issued accordingly.

UKFT can advise members of the labelling requirements in all major markets throughout the world.

UKFT GARMENT LABELLING GUIDANCE