Machined Parts Sourcing Glossary: A.TR to IT Grades

This glossary defines the customs, quality-document, tolerance, process and supply terms that European buyers meet when they source machined parts from Türkiye, each in one or two sentences with the standard or regulation behind it. Standard editions and legal status are stated as of 2026-10-30, and entries say where a rule is under revision.

Entries are grouped by topic. Where a longer explanation exists, the entry links to it.

Which customs and trade terms matter for imports from Türkiye?

• Customs union (EU–Türkiye): the arrangement under Decision No 1/95 of the EC–Türkiye Association Council that gives industrial goods in free circulation zero customs duties and zero quotas between the EU and Türkiye. Unprocessed agricultural products and coal and steel products are outside it, according to the Commission. See the customs union guide.
• Free circulation: the customs status of goods that were either wholly produced in the EU or Türkiye, or put into free circulation there after import from a third country (Commission, DG TAXUD).
• A.TR movement certificate: the document that proves free-circulation status. The customs authorities of the exporting state endorse it when the goods are exported (Decision 1/2006, Article 7(1)), and the importer presents it to customs within four months of the date of issue (Article 8(1)). Swedish Customs states that it is not a certificate of origin. See the A.TR guide.
• EUR.1 and EUR-MED: movement certificates that serve as proof of origin in some EU preferential trade arrangements. Access2Markets lists these certificates and origin declarations as the ways to claim a preferential tariff. Coal and steel products trade with Türkiye under a separate 1996 agreement with its own rules of origin, so origin proof matters for them, while duty-free entry of finished industrial parts rests on free circulation.
• HS code: the six-digit code of the World Customs Organization's Harmonized System, which covers more than 5,000 commodity groups and is used by more than 200 countries and economies. See HS codes for custom machined parts.
• CN code: the EU's Combined Nomenclature, an eight-digit code whose first six digits follow the HS. Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 is updated and published every year.
• TARIC: the Commission's multilingual database that integrates all measures relating to the Common Customs Tariff, including tariff preferences, trade defence duties and import and export controls. Look a CN code up there to see what applies to it.
• Customs declaration: the declaration that enters imported goods for release into free circulation. The date customs accept it is the date used to calculate duty and VAT (Access2Markets).
• EORI number: the unique identifier for economic operators in EU customs. It is mandatory for the clearance of all types of customs operations in the EU customs territory, and importers outside the EU receive one the first time they lodge a declaration.
• Import VAT: payable on all goods imported into the EU for commercial purposes, regardless of value (Zoll). The customs union does not remove it. See importing machined parts into Germany.
• CBAM: the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, Regulation (EU) 2023/956. Its definitive regime applies from 1 January 2026 to cement, iron and steel, aluminium, fertilisers, electricity and hydrogen. Importers register as authorised declarants, and imports up to 50 tonnes net mass per importer and year are exempt. Scope depends on the CN code of the part. See CBAM for steel and aluminium parts.
• Incoterms 2020: eleven three-letter trade terms from the International Chamber of Commerce, still the current edition. A contract should name the edition and the named place. Table 1 compares the four rules buyers meet most often; the Incoterms guide goes further.

Table 1. Delivery and customs duties under four Incoterms 2020 rules

Source: ICC Academy, "FCA and EXW Incoterms 2020 explained" and "DAP and DDP Incoterms 2020 explained"; ICC, Incoterms 2020 rules. VAT is a separate matter and follows the national import rules.

Which quality document terms do buyers ask for?

• Material certificate: the document from the material producer that gives the test results for the melt or lot the part was cut from. Buyers usually ask for it as an EN 10204 inspection document (Table 2).
• Heat number: the identifier of the melt a material comes from. It links a part to its certificate and is the first link in traceability.
• EN 10204:2004: the standard for inspection documents on metallic products, with four types: 2.1, 2.2, 3.1 and 3.2. See the EN 10204 comparison.

Table 2. Inspection document types in EN 10204:2004

Source: EN 10204:2004, as summarised by Material Welding; the standard text is paywalled. EN 10204:2004 deleted type 2.3 of the 1991 edition.

• Certificate of conformity (CoC): the supplier's signed statement that the parts meet the order and the drawing. It carries no test results, so what it declares is comparable to type 2.1.
• Inspection report: a list of measured values against nominal size and tolerance for the characteristics named in the order. The order states whether every part, a sample or one part is measured. See inspection reports, CMM and Cpk.
• First article inspection (FAI): documented verification that the first part from a production setup meets every drawing requirement. SAE AS9102C:2023 sets the requirements in aerospace, and buyers in other industries use it by agreement. See FAI and AS9102.
• PPAP: the Production Part Approval Process of the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG), described by AIAG as the industry standard that ensures engineering design record and specification requirements are consistently met. The customer's order or supplier manual states what must be submitted. See PPAP for Tier 2 suppliers.
• Control plan: the document that lists, for each process step, what is checked, how often, with which gauge and what happens when a value is out of limits. AIAG treats it as a core tool alongside PPAP.
• CMM: coordinate measuring machine. A probe takes points on the part, and software computes sizes and geometry and compares them with the CAD model or drawing.
• Cpk: the process capability index. It divides the distance from the process mean to the nearer tolerance limit by three standard deviations. The minimum value is set by the customer, so we give none.
• Measurement uncertainty: the range around a measured value in which the true value lies with a stated confidence. It matters when a part measures close to a limit.
• Non-conformance report (NCR): the record that a part or lot does not meet requirements, with quantity, defect and disposition.
• 8D report and containment: a structured problem-solving report in eight disciplines. Containment means the actions that keep suspect parts away from the customer while the root cause is found. See handling non-conformances with an overseas supplier.
• RoHS: Directive 2011/65/EU, which restricts ten substances in electrical and electronic equipment: lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, PBB, PBDE and four phthalates (Commission). Hexavalent chromium makes it relevant to plating and passivation.
• REACH: Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 on the registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals, the EU's main chemicals law. Substances of very high concern can be subject to authorisation. See surface treatments and compliance.

Which quality system standards do suppliers hold?

• ISO 9001: the international standard for quality management systems. ISO published ISO 9001:2026 on 16 September 2026 and lists ISO 9001:2015 as withdrawn. According to ISO/TC 176, new accredited certificates go only to the 2026 edition from 31 March 2028, and organisations certified to the 2015 edition must complete their transition by 30 September 2029. See which supplier certificate matters.
• IATF 16949: the automotive quality management standard, in its 2016 edition. IATF approved Stakeholder Communiqué SC-2026-005 on 30 July 2026 on the status of a revision to IATF 16949. We found no published second edition.
• Supplier audit: an assessment of a supplier's processes, equipment and records. The customer carries out a second-party audit, a certification body a third-party audit. See qualifying a contract machining supplier.
• Traceability: the ability to follow a part through lot or serial number back to its material heat, process steps and inspection records.

What do the tolerance and drawing terms mean?

• General tolerance: a deviation that applies to every dimension without an individual tolerance. ISO 2768-1:1989 sets it for linear and angular dimensions in classes f, m, c and v, for workpieces made by metal removal or formed from sheet metal. ISO lists it as to be revised. ISO 2768-2:1989, which gave the classes H, K and L for geometry, is withdrawn, and ISO 22081:2021 replaces it with rules for writing general geometrical and size specifications. Our network works to ISO 2768-m as standard and tighter where the drawing specifies it. See ISO 2768 explained.
• Tolerance grade and fit: ISO 286-1:2010 is the ISO code system for tolerances on linear sizes of cylinders and parallel opposite surfaces, with tolerance classes and fits. In H7/g6 the capital letter and number describe the hole and the lowercase letter and number the shaft. The number is the IT grade, and a higher number is a wider tolerance. See ISO 286 fits and IT grades.
• Clearance, transition and interference fit: in a clearance fit the shaft is always smaller than the hole. In an interference fit it is always larger, so assembly needs force or heat. A transition fit can be either.
• Geometrical tolerancing (GD&T): tolerances of form, orientation, location and run-out, defined in ISO 1101:2017 and written in tolerance frames on the drawing. ASME Y14.5 is the US counterpart.
• Datum: the reference feature, such as a plane or an axis, from which orientation and location tolerances are measured.
• Ra and Rz: the two common surface roughness parameters. Ra is the arithmetic mean of the height deviations from the mean line. Rz adds the highest peak and the deepest valley within a section, averaged over the sections. ISO 21920-2:2021 replaced ISO 4287:1997, and no single factor converts Ra to Rz. See Ra and Rz.
• Title block: the area of the drawing with administrative data. ISO 7200:2004 defines field names, contents and lengths for it. See the technical drawing checklist.
• Revision index: the letter or number that marks the change status of a drawing. The order should name it so both sides work from the same version.
• STEP file: the neutral CAD exchange format standardised as ISO 10303. Part 242 of the series covers managed model-based 3D engineering. See the CAD data package for quotes.

What do the process and design terms mean?

• CNC milling: a rotating cutter removes material on a computer-controlled machine. It suits prismatic parts. See CNC milling.
• CNC turning: the workpiece rotates against a fixed tool. It suits round parts. See CNC turning.
• Mill-turn: one machine that turns and mills in the same setup, so a part is finished without re-clamping.
• Sheet metal fabrication: parts cut from flat sheet, for example by laser, and then bent. See sheet metal.
• Weld quality level: ISO 5817:2023 defines quality levels B, C and D for imperfections in fusion-welded joints in steel, nickel, titanium and their alloys. Level B is the highest requirement on the finished weld. See welded assemblies.
• ISO 3834: the series on quality requirements for fusion welding. Part 1 (ISO 3834-1:2021) gives the criteria for choosing one of the three levels of quality requirements defined in parts 2, 3 and 4. See weld quality levels, ISO 3834 and EN 1090.
• Machining allowance: the extra material left on a casting or forging so that machining can bring the functional surfaces to size. See casting with machining.
• Anodizing and passivation: surface treatments. Anodizing builds an oxide layer on aluminium electrochemically. Passivation is a chemical treatment of stainless steel surfaces. See assembly and finishing.
• Design for manufacturability (DFM): adapting a design to the process so that cost and risk fall without changing function. See DFM for CNC milling.
• Reverse engineering: deriving a drawing and specification from an existing part. See reverse engineering spare parts.

Which commercial and supply chain terms come up?

• Tier 1 and Tier 2 supplier: a Tier 1 supplier delivers directly to the OEM, the original equipment manufacturer. A Tier 2 supplier delivers to a Tier 1.
• Build-to-print: the supplier makes the part to the buyer's drawing. The buyer owns the design, and the supplier answers for conformity to the drawing.
• Contract machining (Lohnfertigung) and extended workbench (verlängerte Werkbank): machining for a customer's drawing and order, used as capacity beyond the customer's own shop. See the extended workbench for Tier 2 suppliers.
• Request for quotation (RFQ): the inquiry with drawing, quantity, material and applicable standards from which a supplier prices a part.
• Lead time: the time from order to delivery. Road transit from Bursa to central Europe takes 5 to 10 days typically. See lead time from Turkey to Europe.
• Landed cost: the total cost of a part delivered to the buyer: unit price, freight, insurance, duty, taxes and handling. See the landed cost model.
• Nearshoring: moving sourcing to a supplier country close to the buyer's market. See nearshoring compared.
• China+1: a dual-sourcing strategy that adds one supplier outside China to an existing Chinese one. See China+1 for machined parts.
• Non-disclosure agreement (NDA): the contract that protects drawings and data shared in an inquiry. See NDA, IP and warranty clauses.

Which edition of each standard is current?

Standards named above change. Table 3 gives the status of each at the date of this page, from the catalogue entry or the publisher.

Table 3. Status of the standards named in this glossary, as of 2026-10-30

Source: ISO catalogue entries (committee.iso.org); ISO/TC 176 news; NSAI standards shop; BSI Knowledge; AIAG; IATF Global Oversight; ICC. Status as of 2026-10-30.

Frequently asked questions

Is the A.TR a certificate of origin?

No. It certifies that goods are in free circulation in the EU or Türkiye. Swedish Customs states that it is not a certificate of origin. The importer presents it to customs within four months of the date of issue (Decision 1/2006, Article 8(1)).

What does an EN 10204 type 3.1 certificate contain?

Test results for the supplied lot of material, validated by an inspector authorised by the manufacturer and independent of the production department. Type 3.2 adds validation by the purchaser's representative or an inspector named in official regulations.

Is ISO 9001:2015 still valid?

ISO published ISO 9001:2026 on 16 September 2026 and lists the 2015 edition as withdrawn. Organisations certified to ISO 9001:2015 must complete their transition by 30 September 2029.

Who clears the goods for import under FCA, DAP and DDP?

Under FCA and DAP the buyer carries out import formalities. Under DDP the seller carries out all customs formalities, including import, and pays the duty. The seller clears export under all three rules.

What is the difference between an HS code and a CN code?

The HS code has six digits and comes from the World Customs Organization. The CN code is the EU's eight-digit extension of it: the first six digits follow the HS structure.

Does the customs union remove import VAT?

No. The customs union covers customs duties and quotas. German customs states that import VAT is payable on all goods imported into the EU for commercial purposes, regardless of their value.

Sources

1. Decision No 1/2006 of the EC-Turkey Customs Cooperation Committee, Articles 5 to 8 (text copy)
2. Türkiye: customs unions and preferential arrangements (European Commission, DG TAXUD)
3. EU-Türkiye Customs Union (European Commission, Access2Markets)
4. Movement certificate A.TR (Swedish Customs, Tullverket)
5. EUR.1 movement certificate, glossary (European Commission, Access2Markets)
6. Customs clearance documents and procedures (European Commission, Access2Markets)
7. What is the Harmonized System (World Customs Organization)
8. Combined Nomenclature (European Commission, DG TAXUD)
9. EU Customs Tariff, TARIC (European Commission, DG TAXUD)
10. Economic Operators Registration and Identification number, EORI (European Commission, DG TAXUD)
11. Import process and import VAT (Zoll, German customs)
12. Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (European Commission, DG TAXUD)
13. Start of the CBAM definitive period (European Commission, Access2Markets)
14. Incoterms 2020 (International Chamber of Commerce)
15. DAP and DDP Incoterms 2020 explained (ICC Academy)
16. FCA and EXW Incoterms 2020 explained (ICC Academy)
17. EN 10204:2004, Metallic products, types of inspection documents (NSAI standards shop, published 2004-10-20)
18. Material test certificates explained: 2.1, 2.2, 3.1 and 3.2 (secondary summary; the standard text is paywalled)
19. SAE AS9102C:2023, Aerospace series, first article inspection requirements (BSI Knowledge)
20. PPAP-4, Production Part Approval Process (AIAG)
21. Quality core tools, control plan and PPAP (AIAG)
22. RoHS Directive 2011/65/EU (European Commission, DG Environment)
23. REACH Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (European Commission, DG Environment)
24. ISO 9001:2026, Quality management systems, Requirements (ISO catalogue)
25. ISO 9001:2026 has been released, transition dates (ISO/TC 176 news)
26. IATF Stakeholder Communiqué SC-2026-005, 30 July 2026 (IATF Global Oversight)
27. ISO 2768-1:1989, General tolerances, Part 1 (ISO catalogue)
28. ISO 22081:2021, General geometrical specifications and general size specifications (ISO catalogue)
29. ISO 286-1:2010, ISO code system for tolerances on linear sizes (ISO catalogue)
30. ISO 1101:2017, Geometrical tolerancing (ISO catalogue)
31. ISO 21920-2:2021, Surface texture, profile parameters (ISO catalogue)
32. ISO 7200:2004, Data fields in title blocks and document headers (ISO catalogue)
33. ISO 5817:2023, Quality levels for imperfections in fusion-welded joints (ISO catalogue)
34. ISO 3834-1:2021, Quality requirements for fusion welding, Part 1 (ISO catalogue)

Questions on a drawing? sales@ertas.engineering

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