From 2008 to 2009, we handled several cases in which Turkish importers defrauded Chinese suppliers of goods.

Unscrupulous Turkish importers took advantages of special provisions of Turkish customs regulations to commit fraud. The common and mature method of scams was that after getting in touch with Chinese companies through the Internet or trade fairs etc., they proposed to purchase goods and required payment in the form of bank collection (D/P at sight). After the goods arrived in Turkey, Turkish importers used various excuses to delay payment. As the Turkish Customs stipulates that the goods should not stay in the port for more than 45 days, otherwise they will be confiscated and auctioned, and the Turkish importers of the goods have the right of first refusal at the time of auction.

Lessons and enlightenment:

Turkish customers played with the law and took advantage of legal loopholes making export companies hard to guard against. However, it is unrealistic to require foreign trade companies to understand the laws of each country, and to be familiar with the legal loopholes and legal gray areas of each country. But for foreign customers, especially for customers in countries and regions with poor business reputation, foreign trade companies must always maintain a sense of risk prevention and understand common trade scams in some countries and regions. We should believe that the vast majority of Turkish companies are good, but we must stay away from this scam that uses local customs regulations to defraud foreign exporters. Before the relevant customs regulations of Turkey are modified, when doing business with Turkish customers, foreign trade companies should avoid the payment term of D/P.