New Era in Trade with EU
Anatolian Agency, Istanbul - A new era will begin in trade with European countries. Turkey will be obliged to use European Union (EU) Community trademark named CE Marking which covers compulsory conditions in certain products regarding the protection of health, safety, environment and consumers as of January 11.

Yalcin Gulbeyaz, the Director General of Bureau Veritas which is an international independent supervision and risk prevention organization and one of the companies authorized for CE, told A.A correspondent on Thursday that CE trade mark was necessary for 27 products within the scope of ''new approach directives.''

Gulbeyaz said that CE trading was a single marking certificating that the manufactured products were in compliance with directives. ''Products which are within the scope of directives but which lack CE trading cannot enter into territory of EU countries. The sale of these products will be banned in Turkey in the end of a certain transition period,'' Gulbeyaz also said.

Gulbeyaz noted that CE marking meant selling visa for Turkey and stated that it was impossible for the companies which did not take CE marking to exist for a long time. ''These companies which do not have CE trademark on their products cannot sell their products in Turkey, EU, China, Pakistan, Hong Kong, and some African countries soon. CE marking will help Turkish producers to exist and compete in these markets in the long term,'' Gulbeyaz said.

IMF welcomes Turkish banking measures
Washington (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund on Friday welcomed Turkey's new banking measures aimed at improving the soundness of the banking sector, and reiterated that it plans to reward Ankara with more aid.

"The IMF welcomes the strong emphasis on measures to ensure the soundness of the banking system in the Turkish government's economic program," IMF European I Department Director Michael Deppler said in a statement.

The new banking measures, passed by Turkey's parliament late on Thursday, are designed to pump capital into the banking sector and drag the country's economy out of recession.

The law is one of a series of reforms needed to secure IMF approval later this month of a $10 billion addition to a $19 billion crisis lending package.

Deppler reiterated that the IMF fully intends to follow through with that assistance now that the banking scheme has been put in place, saying, "The scheme is part of the new economic program to be supported by the IMF."

"A sound banking sector will ensure confidence of depositors, a return to normal credit growth, and reduced pressures on interest and exchange rates."

Deppler added that a sound and profitable banking sector would help set the stage for economic recovery in Turkey.

Under the new law, the government will inject capital into major banks through the issuance of convertible bonds to allow them to increase capitalization to a target ratio of nine percent.

Turkish officials have estimated the cost of the operation at up to $4 billion. They say freeing up a bank sector suffering from recession and bad loans is essential to ending Turkey's recession, which is expected to show a drop of 8.5 percent in 2001 gross national product.

The cash injection is conditional on bank owners matching the state contributions. It also obliges banks to use the majority of the new money to free up lending to a manufacturing sector that has suffered badly in Turkey's economic crisis.

Deppler said the new laws were "designed to help the remaining private banking system survive the current depressed state of the economy, while still making bank owners fully liable for all losses the banks have incurred."

"It therefore involves no bailout of private bank owners with public funds," he added.