Türkiye has adopted a shipping-specific greenhouse gas fee under the Ports Law. The legal basis is Law No. 7519, published in the Official Gazette on 9 July 2024, which amended Ports Law No. 618.

The operational details are to be defined in secondary regulation that has not yet been published: vessel types, voyage scope, tonnage thresholds, fee rates, and monitoring, reporting and verification rules.

Türkiye is separately developing a national ETS with a 2026 to 2027 pilot phase and a first implementation period from 2028 to 2035. The current ETS draft covers facilities, not maritime transport.

Overview

Türkiye's maritime carbon pricing framework has two separate parts. The first is the shipping greenhouse gas emissions fee under the Ports Law, the only measure that currently targets maritime emissions directly. The second is the national ETS, which is still in draft and does not confirm maritime transport as a covered sector.

The fee has a legal basis in force but is not yet operational. Secondary regulation is required before the fee can function as a working compliance system. Until that regulation is published, vessel types, voyage scope, tonnage thresholds, fee rates and the monitoring, reporting and verification methodology all remain unconfirmed.

Scope

Geographical coverage:

The fee applies to commercial ships calling at, or departing from, Turkish ports for cargo or passenger operations. The Ports Law amendment does not specify how voyage coverage is allocated. It is not yet clear, for example, whether it follows a domestic or international leg approach as in EU ETS. That detail is expected in secondary regulation.

Ship size threshold:

No ship size threshold has been confirmed. The secondary regulation is expected to define which vessel types and tonnage brackets are covered.

Greenhouse gases covered

‍The law refers to greenhouse gas emissions. Whether the fee covers only CO₂ or also methane and nitrous oxide will be clarified in secondary regulation.

Exemptions

Exemptions have not been defined in available official material. Secondary regulation is expected to address vessel size, vessel type, government and military vessels, domestic trades and other potential carve-outs.

Start date and phase in

The legal basis took effect in July 2024. The operational start date depends on the secondary regulation that will define the practical compliance rules. No phase-in schedule has been confirmed for the maritime fee.

For the national ETS, the official draft sets the following timeline:

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Responsibility

The fee is expected to apply to shipowners of commercial ships calling at or departing from Turkish ports. The secondary regulation will clarify who reports emissions, who verifies them, who files with the authority and how the process works in practice.

The legal payer and the commercial cost bearer may not be the same party. Charterparties and port call contracts will need to address cost allocation once the final rules are published.

Cost Impact

The fee is designed to create a direct emissions-linked cost for commercial ship calls at Turkish ports. The fee rate, carbon price reference, covered emissions, voyage boundary and any phase-in discounts are all pending secondary regulation, so the cost cannot yet be quantified.

Once operational, Turkish port calls will carry an additional greenhouse gas cost. This will make emissions data, fuel consumption, voyage distance and contractual cost allocation more relevant for vessels trading to Türkiye.

Compliance mechanism

The compliance steps are well understood in outline, but the practical detail depends on secondary regulation. In broad terms:

1. Scope check: Determine whether the vessel is a commercial ship calling at or departing from a Turkish port for cargo or passenger handling, and whether it falls within the vessel types and thresholds defined in secondary regulation.
2. Monitor emissions: The law refers to verified greenhouse gas emissions, indicating a monitoring and reporting process analogous to existing MRV frameworks. The methodology is pending.
3. Report and verify: The reporting format and verification requirements will be set out in secondary regulation. Türkiye has an existing greenhouse gas MRV framework for installations under the national ETS draft, which may inform the maritime approach.
4. Pay the fee: The fee will be calculated based on verified emissions, with the rate and formula confirmed in secondary regulation. The payment mechanism, invoicing process, and consequences for non-payment or late payment are all pending.

Shipowners calling Turkish ports should build data collection for fuel consumption, fuel type, port call activity and voyage records now, so they are ready when the secondary regulation is published.

Relation to Türkiye national ETS

The national ETS and the shipping fee are separate instruments. The ETS is facility-based; the shipping fee is port-call based. Maritime transport is not confirmed as a covered sector in the current ETS draft, and the shipping fee exists independently of the ETS under the Ports Law.

The two could interact in future if maritime is brought into the ETS, but no such decision has been confirmed. Until then, the shipping fee under the Ports Law is the only maritime-specific carbon pricing measure in Türkiye.

Commercial and operational implications

Türkiye sits at the intersection of European, Black Sea, Mediterranean and global trade lanes, making a Turkish shipping emissions fee commercially significant for many owners, operators and charterers.

The immediate implication is uncertainty. The legal basis exists, but the operational system does not yet. Shipowners should prepare data systems now, while avoiding assumptions about thresholds or cost levels until secondary regulation is published.

For charterers, contract clauses should address who pays any Turkish greenhouse gas fee, who provides emissions data, who manages verification and how costs are passed through. These questions will become more pressing once the secondary regulation arrives.

Türkiye has moved from policy discussion to a legal basis. Secondary regulation is the next step and will determine when and how that fee becomes a working maritime compliance obligation.