A tariff quota has been introduced for corn, a key raw material in feed production. While customs duties on 1 million tons of corn will be zero until July 31, 2025, importers will face certain restrictions.

The government has decided to introduce a tariff quota for corn in an effort to maintain price stability. According to a presidential decree published in the Official Gazette, customs duties on 1 million tons of corn imports will be reduced to 0% until July 31, 2025. Starting August 1, the duty rate will return to 130%.

The decision aims to curb feed costs, which play a critical role particularly in poultry and red meat production. The Ministry of Trade stated that the measure is intended to support imports when domestic production falls short of demand and to prevent 'speculative' price movements.

Under the decision, which was announced in early May, importers will be limited to importing a maximum of 8,000 tons per shipment. The same company will need to wait seven days before making another import.

This marks the third time in the past seven months that Turkey has opened a customs tariff quota of 1 million tons for corn imports. Previously, on October 10, 2024, and March 19, 2025, the customs duty was temporarily reduced to 5%.

According to the crop balance sheets published by TurkStat at the end of March, Turkey’s corn production in 2024 reached 9 million tons. Including imports, total supply stood at around 12 million tons. Almost the entire volume of over 3 million tons of corn imports was sourced from Ukraine and Russia. While a small portion of total supply was allocated to food, around 7.4 million tons of corn was used in feed production.