Amendments To The Green Port Certıfıcatıon Regıme For Coastal Facılıtıes Have Been Publıshed

The “Regulation on Amendments to the Regulation on the Issuance of Green Port Certificates for Coastal Facilities” (the “Amending Regulation”), published by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, entered into force upon its publication in the Official Gazette dated 24 March 2026 and numbered 33203.

With the Amending Regulation, the scope, mandatory application cases, sanction mechanisms, and technical obligations under the Green Port Certification regime have been restructured.

1. Scope and Definitions

The scope of the Regulation has been expanded from covering only coastal facilities applying for a Green Port Certificate to also include those that are required to obtain such certificate.

The definition of “coastal facility” has been revised to cover ports, piers and similar facilities established on areas gained through land reclamation and drying within the scope of the Coastal Law.

2. Obligation to Obtain a Green Port Certificate

With the introduction of Additional Article 1, an obligation to obtain a Green Port Certificate has been imposed on certain coastal facilities.

In this context:

• Newly constructed coastal facilities falling within the scope of the ISPS Code, and
• Existing coastal facilities to be expanded by more than 25% of their total area

are required to obtain a Green Port Certificate.

For such facilities:

• It has become mandatory to include the statement “An application for a Green Port Certificate shall be submitted” in zoning plan notes,
• It has been stipulated that no coastal facility operation permit shall be issued, or expanded areas shall not be included within the scope of the permit, unless the certificate is obtained.

Furthermore:

• Coastal facilities with an annual average of 100 or more cruise ship calls are required to obtain a Green Port Certificate by 31 December 2028,
• Coastal facilities handling an annual average of 100,000 TEU or more containers are required to obtain a Green Port Certificate by 31 December 2030.

3. Application and Exception Regime

Coastal facilities subject to the obligation:

• Must apply within one month following completion for newly constructed facilities,
• Must apply at least three months prior to the relevant obligation date for facilities falling within the capacity criteria.

Where it is documented that the failure to comply with Green Port criteria does not arise from the operator, the Administration may issue an exception certificate valid for up to one year, which may be renewed once.

4. Administrative Fines

Pursuant to the provision added to Article 11 of the Regulation, where no application is made or the application is rejected despite the obligation to obtain a Green Port Certificate, an administrative fine of TRY 5,000 per hour shall be imposed for each vessel calling at the coastal facility as of the date the obligation arises. Periods shorter than one hour shall be rounded up to one hour.

The administrative fine:

• Shall not be less than TRY 15,259,
• Shall not exceed TRY 605,279,
  and shall be increased annually in line with the revaluation rate.

5. Technical and Environmental Obligations

With the amendments made to Annex-4 of the Regulation, technical and environmental obligations applicable to coastal facilities have been increased.

In this context:

• Coastal facilities within the scope of the ISPS Code are required to ensure that their electrical connection systems for serving vessels comply with the TS IEC/IEEE 80005 standard.
• It has become mandatory to establish a memorial forest or to carry out afforestation projects consisting of at least 5,000 trees on behalf of the coastal facility.
• Marine surface cleaning activities must:

• be carried out in a planned manner,
• be supported by an equipment inventory,
• be regularly reported and recorded.

Additionally, technical obligations such as the use of barriers at river mouths have been introduced.

6. Repealed Provision

Under Article 4 of the Amending Regulation, the second paragraph of Article 12 of the Regulation has been repealed. This provision previously required that, in the Ministry’s evaluations of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Reports for new coastal facilities to be constructed after the publication date of the Regulation, it be undertaken that the criteria set out in Annex-4 would be met within the EIA Reports, that new coastal facilities be constructed in compliance with Annex-4 criteria, and that facilities failing to comply would not be granted a coastal facility operation permit or a dangerous goods conformity certificate.

7. Entry into Force and Implementation

The Amending Regulation, the provisions of which shall be executed by the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, entered into force on the date of its publication.

8. Conclusion

With the amendments introduced, the Green Port Certification regime has become mandatory for certain coastal facilities, non-compliance has been directly linked to administrative sanctions, and technical and environmental standards have been significantly tightened.

These regulations may give rise to substantial operational and financial obligations, particularly for large-scale port operators and coastal facilities planning capacity expansions.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.