Memorandum on Commercial Electronic Transmission Management System and Integratorship

The Communiqué on Commercial Electronic Message Management System Integrators ("Communiqué"), which regulates the procedures and principles regarding the registration of consent and refusal information for commercial electronic messages in the Message Management System ("IYS"), the execution of these transactions through integrators or by service providers via IYS, the authorization of integrators, and the cancellation of their authorizations, was published in the Official Gazette dated September 18, 2024, and numbered 32666, and has entered into force.

Pursuant to the Communiqué, it is regulated that real or legal persons who send commercial electronic messages or on behalf of whom commercial electronic messages are sent and who are obliged to register to IYS (“Service Provider”) may send commercial electronic messages, register the approval and rejection information of the recipients to IYS, obtain approval through IYS and exercise the right to reject through the integrator. It is also stated that the authorization of integrators will be granted by the Ministry of Trade.

The main requirements for organizations applying for integrator authorization under Article 4 of the Communiqué have been determined as follows:

- Minimum one million Turkish liras as paid-in capital

- The organization must be a joint-stock company with all shares issued in the name of the shareholder.

- Direct or outsourced employment of personnel with technical expertise within the Company

- Possession of the ISO 22301 Business Continuity Management System Certificate, as well as the ISO/IEC 27001 Information Security Management System Certificate and ISO/IEC 27701 Personal Data Management System Certificate, both accredited by the Turkish Accreditation Agency (“TÜRKAK”).

- Provided that the leakage test has been carried out by A or B level leakage testing organizations approved by the Turkish Standards Institute (“TSE”) at most three months prior to the application date

- The technical infrastructure must operate in a redundant structure that can ensure business continuity 24/7 without any interruption in commercial electronic message approval and rejection processes, with a log recording mechanism, protection against unauthorized access and the records kept need to be synchronized and adjusted to a consistent time source and

- The information processing system, software, hardware and server infrastructure to be used in the integrator service must be located in a database within the borders of the Republic of Turkey.

In accordance with Article 6 of the Communiqué, applications for integrator authorization will be submitted to the organization ("Organization") authorized to establish IYS, which is regulated under Article 10/A of the Regulation on Commercial Communication and Commercial Electronic Messages ("Regulation"). Applications will be evaluated by the Organization, and if deemed appropriate, they will be forwarded to the Ministry of Trade. A contract will be established to integrate the approved integrators into the system, and all technical, administrative, and financial procedures and principles, including remote access to the IYS, will be regulated. The list of integrators, once integrated into the system, will be published and updated on the IYS's website.

According to Article 13 of the Communiqué, if an integrator loses the conditions stipulated in Article 4 of the Communiqué, the Organization will give the integrator a period of thirty days to rectify the non-compliance. Upon request, a one-time extension of up to thirty days may be granted. If the non-compliance is not remedied or the conditions are not restored within the given time, the integrator's authorization will be revoked by the Ministry upon notification from the Organization. In such cases, the Organization is required to promptly inform the service providers served by the integrator via the IYS or in writing.

In accordance with Provisional Article 1 of the Communiqué, those currently providing services related to commercial electronic message consent and refusal processes on behalf of service providers and who wish to obtain integrator authorization may apply to the Organization from the publication date of the Communiqué. It is stipulated that those who do not obtain integrator authorization from the Ministry by the end of the sixth month following the effective date of the Communiqué will not be able to perform any operations related to commercial electronic messages on behalf of service providers or conduct any transactions via the IYS.