Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Council President Muhittin Savranoğlu, Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak and Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank attended the meetings and gave information about the issues conveyed. They also made assessments about the activities of the Executive Committee consisting of representatives of the Council Member Associations.

TOBB Board Member Zeki Kıvanç noted that TOBB is always standing by the sector and follow up on sectoral problems in the public domain.

Council Members decided to create a workgroup to ensure that the terms “Leather and Fur” are protected and artificial, vegan, etc. cannot use the terms “Leather and Fur”. It was decided to share the roadmap produced by this group with the relevant Ministries. Council Vice President Ersin Kaska stated that the use of the term artificial leather in Europe has been completely abolished and leather is considered in a very special position, stressing that work should be started in our country as soon as possible.

Regarding the comments that the price of raw leather increases the price of meat, it was stated that at current prices, raw leather obtained is 1.5% when considering meat versus leather gained, and this can’t have an effect on the rise of meat prices.

The effects of companies declaring concordat, an effect reaching all the way to the last ring in a chain throughout the financial structure and economy were evaluated.

As a result of the differences in VAT on the products of the sector, the VAT rates of the machines used in production and the ÖTV burden on some products and chemicals, it was decided to follow up on the issue with the Ministry of Treasury and Finance.