ELECTRONIC PRODUCT RECEIPTS IN LICENSED WAREHOUSING SYSTEM
The licensed warehousing system is a system in which the trade of agricultural products suitable for warehousing are carried out within the Licensed Warehouse Enterprises and through the warehouse receipts representing the ownership of such products. The basis of licensed warehousing is to ensure that agricultural products suitable for licensed warehousing are stored with appropriate methods, in healthy conditions and according to their quality classes to make the trade of such products more systematic and reliable. What is aimed with the licensed warehouse system is to prevent the storage of agricultural products under inappropriate conditions which are stored in non-licensed warehouses (ordinary warehouses) that are easily perishable due to their structure and require special conditions like heat, light, humidity, ventilation. Licensed Warehouse Enterprises are established with the permission of the Turkish Ministry of Trade as a joint stock company. In the establishment of the company, it is required to have a paid-in capital in the amount specified in the relevant regulation in accordance with the storage capacity, not less than one million liras, and to submit the documents shown in this regulation. In this sense, TMO-TOBB Tarım Ürünleri Lisanslı Depoculuk A.Ş. which is Turkey's first licensed warehousing company, obtained a licensed warehouse enterprise license in 2011.
Companies that obtained an operating license (electronic registry agency license) have the right to issue warehouse receipts. Warehouse receipts are issued during the delivery and acceptance of the said products to the licensed warehouse entreprises to represent the products in the licensed warehouses. Warehouse receipts can be physical or electronic. Although the licensed warehousing system was first started with physical warehouse receipts, with the completion of the necessary infrastructure works due to the problems experienced in the exchange of these receipts and their vulnerability to forgery and fraud electronic warehouse receipts have been implemented in all licensed warehouses since 2014. In this sense, electronic warehouse receipts have the same characteristics as physical warehouse receipts and give rise to the same legal rights and obligations. The delivery of the receipts to the licensed warehouse enterprise is within the scope of escrow (mandate), not sales, and it is guaranteed that the same amount, type, class and quality products will be returned to the depositor (owner) together with these receipts. Since warehouse receipts have the value of negotiable instruments, they can be issued to name or order and endorsed.
The Electronic Warehouse Receipts Regulation dated 08.10.2005 and numbered 25960, which is the first regulation on Electronic Warehouse Receipts (EWR), has been amended with the Electronic Warehouse Receipts Regulation published in the Official Gazette dated 12.11.2011 and numbered 28110. The purpose of Electronic Warehouse Receipt Regulation dated 12.11.2011 and numbered 28110, which is still valid today, is to regulate the procedures and principles regarding the dematerialized monitoring, transfer, modification, cancellation and security of Electronic Warehouse Receipts created in the electronic environment in accordance with the provisions of the regulation, getting a license of the enterprise that will provide these services, its activity and inspection and other transactions regarding the Electronic Warehouse Receipts.
In accordance with the Agricultural Products Licensed Warehousing Law No. 5300, the Central Registry Agency is authorized as the Electronic Registry Agency to keep and track the records of Electronic Warehouse Receipts. Central Registry Agency (CRA) carries out transactions related to the tracking and storage of warehouse receipts, issuance, cancellation, transfer between depositor's own accounts, subjecting them to pledge and collateral, distrain, securities transfer transactions related to clearing obligations arising from trading transactions in Central Registry System (CRS). Individuals who deliver their products to licensed warehouses can sell electronic warehouse receipts transferred to their accounts on the relevant exchanges. In this sense, transfer transactions related to sales are carried out through TAKASBANK.
Licensed warehouse enterprises obtain a qualified electronic certificate for their relevant personnel from an electronic certificate service provider authorized by the Information and Communication Technologies Authority in order to carry out transactions regarding electronic warehouse receipts. It is necessary to ensure the confidentiality of the records within the framework stipulated in the relevant regulation. Licensed warehouse enterprises are obliged to keep records of all rights and obligations related to electronic warehouse receipts and transactions for a period of ten years and to submit them to the Ministry and other competent authorities when requested. Enterprises are required to take out financial liability insurance in order to cover the damages that may arise as a result of not fulfilling their obligations according to law, related regulations and electronic registry regulations or fulfilling them incompletely.