Turkey's refurbished cellphone standards set stage for product renewal

By Ayse Bocuoglu Bodur and Sevgi Ceren Gokkoyun

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey has set definitive new standards for the refurbishment of second-hand cellphones, the country's industry and technology minister said on Thursday.

Speaking to the Turkish Standards Institute (TSE), Mustafa Varank said seven firms have so far applied to set up authorized refurbishment centers and one even has the first authorized center up and running after completing the requirements.

Stressing that this is Turkey’s first standard in the field of product renewal, Varank said that it will pave the way for the reintroduction of used electronic products into the economy.

"Second-hand cellphones from these renewal centers will have a certain guarantee,” he explained.

“The public will know that when they buy such phones, they are second-hand phones, but all kinds of improvements and maintenance have been done on it."

Telling how standardization and conformity measures affect every part of economic development, Varank underlined that the countries that steer the economy have international power in these areas.

Turkey provides all kinds of support to improve the technical and administrative infrastructure of the TSE and to boost its competitiveness with counterpart institutions, he added.

*Writing by Yunus Girgin in Ankara