Turkey to Hold First Major Seminar on KKDIK in October

Turkey’s environment ministry is to hold its first major industry seminar to introduce the new REACH-based KKDIK Regulation on 27 October in Istanbul, Chemical Watch has learned.

Seref Yilmaz, a senior official at the Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation (MoEU), says the date has just been agreed with the Istanbul chemicals exporters association (IKMIB) – the seminar host. An official announcement is expected soon, with invitations to follow.

KKDIK, which almost exactly mirrors REACH, was published on 23 June and will come into effect on 23 December this year. The law sets a registration deadline of 31 December 2023 and a pre-registration deadline of 31 December 2020.

Around 200 industry representatives and other stakeholders are expected to attend the conference, including local representatives of foreign chemicals manufacturers. It will be held at the Foreign Trade Complex close to Istanbul's Ataturk airport.

The seminar will feature presentations from ministry officials to explain the new requirements brought by KKDIK, how they need to be implemented and who is responsible. The floor will then be opened to questions. The meeting should last about three hours, Mr Yilmaz says.

All MoEU officials involved in the day-to-day running of chemicals legislation will be present, he says. However, Yahya Kesimal, head of the chemicals department, will not be attending.

The IKMIB will send invitations to its 10,000 members, 8,000 of whom are active exporters.

Training and guidance

Just months before KKDIK's implementation date, concerns linger over the lack of infrastructure in Turkey to accommodate what is likely to amount to 3,000 substance registrations. Annex 18 of the Turkish law sets a high bar for "certified persons" preparing the registration dossiers and industry is worried there may not be a sufficient pool of experts.

CRAD consultancy’s Melih Babayigit says he is preparing to roll out a training programme for experts, who will then train those seeking certification.

Separately, the ministry is publishing 13 guidance documents to help industry prepare for substance registrations under the new law. Two of the documents have already been uploaded on the ministry's chemicals helpdesk website and the remaining 11 will be added in stages until the end of the year.