Turkey's General Directorate of Food and Control (GKGM), under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, published a draft communiqué on August 18, 2026 amending the Turkish Food Codex communiqué on fruit juice and similar products (Türk Gıda Kodeksi Meyve Suyu ve Benzeri Ürünler Tebliği). The proposal transposes subsequent changes to Council Directive 2001/112/EC into national law, introducing definitions for sugar-reduced fruit juices, capping added sugar in nectars by product group, and authorising a "naturally occurring sugars" label claim.
The draft published on the GKGM announcements page on August 18, 2026 is open for stakeholder comment until September 25, 2026. Comments must reach GKGM at [email protected], using the comment form bundled with the draft text archive on the same page.
What changes for fruit juice and nectar composition?
The draft creates three new product definitions together with their product characteristics: "sugar-reduced fruit juice" (doğasından gelen şekeri azaltılmış meyve suyu), sugar-reduced fruit juice produced from sugar-reduced concentrate, and sugar-reduced fruit juice concentrate. These align the Turkish Codex with the EU's reduced-sugar juice category introduced when Directive 2001/112/EC was last amended, giving producers a defined lane for juices whose naturally occurring sugar has been lowered.
For nectars, the draft replaces a single ceiling with a tiered limit on added sugar and/or honey, fixed by where the product sits in Annex 3:
| Annex 3 part | Maximum added sugar and/or honey |
|---|---|
| Part 1 products | 20% of final product weight |
| Part 2 products | 15% of final product weight |
| Part 3 products | 10% of final product weight |
Sweeteners may still be added to nectars alongside sugar and honey. Producers reformulating against sugar-reduction targets should re-check each nectar line against its Annex 3 part, because a product reclassified between parts now inherits a different ceiling.
What new labelling claims and processes apply?
Fruit juice labels may now carry the statement "fruit juices only contain naturally occurring sugars" (Meyve suları sadece doğal olarak oluşan şekerler içerir). The claim is reserved for juices with no added sugar and mirrors the EU labelling permission, giving Turkish producers an on-pack way to signal the absence of added sugar to shoppers.
The draft also broadens the production toolbox. For the new sugar-reduced products, special membrane filtration and yeast fermentation are added to the permitted processes, and sunflower seed is added to the permitted processing aids. Annex 2 gains coconut water, Annex 3 gains the Latin name for quince (Cydonia oblonga L.), and Annex 4 gains a new row for coconut (Cocos nucifera L., value 4.5). Together these bring coconut-based products formally inside the communiqué's scope.
Who must respond, and by what deadline?
The draft is binding in ambition but not yet in force. It sits at the public consultation stage of Turkey's rulemaking process, and a Tebliğ (communiqué) of this kind enters into force only after adoption and publication in the Resmi Gazete, the Official Gazette. Comments must reach GKGM by September 25, 2026 at [email protected], using the comment form bundled with the draft text archive on the GKGM draft page.
The development is material for fruit-juice and nectar manufacturers selling in Turkey, for importers placing EU-produced juice on the Turkish market, and for EU exporters whose formulations already meet Directive 2001/112/EC. Sugar-reduction reformulation, nectar recipe reclassification against the new Annex 3 tiers, and on-pack "naturally occurring sugars" artwork all need legal and product-development review before the text is finalised.
Continuous, per-jurisdiction regulatory monitoring surfaces a draft like this the moment a ministry publishes it, well before it reaches the Official Gazette, leaving compliance teams the full consultation window to react.
Take advantage of this real-time watch
Compliance and product-development teams should: confirm whether each nectar SKU falls under Annex 3 Part 1, 2 or 3 and recompute its sugar and honey ceiling; assess whether sugar-reduced juice lines can use the new definitions and the membrane-filtration or yeast-fermentation routes; prepare label artwork for the "naturally occurring sugars" claim where applicable; and submit comments directly to [email protected] before September 25, 2026. Obsidian tracks this file through to gazette publication and entry into force.
