A New Communiqué on the Regulation of the Right of Access to Files and the Protection of Trade Secrets Has Been Published

The Competition Authority (the “Authority”) has published the Communiqué on the Regulation of the Right of Access to Files and the Protection of Trade Secrets (Communiqué No: 2010/3 in Circular No: 2025/3) in the Official Gazette No 33037, dated 4 October 2025 (the “Communiqué”). It introduces significant amendments to the Previous Communiqué No. 2010/3 (the “Previous Communiqué”).

The New Communiqué reorganises the procedures and principles regarding the exercise of the right of access to files by parties subject to investigation or final examination, as well as the procedures and principles for determining the commercial secrecy of information obtained under Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (“Law No. 4054”) and for protecting information and documents classified as commercial secrets.

AMENDMENTS IN THE NEW COMMUNIQUÉ

1. AMENDMENTS IN THE PURPOSE, SCOPE AND DEFINITIONS

The purpose clause of the Communiqué has been expanded slightly. While the Previous Communiqué only included the term “investigation,” the Communiqué uses the term “investigation and final review,” explicitly covering final reviews in merger and acquisition transactions. This amendment clarifies the scope of the Communiqué and ensures greater legal certainty for parties involved in such proceedings.While the Previous Communiqué only included the term “investigation,” the Communiqué uses the term “investigation and final review,” explicitly covering final reviews in merger and acquisition transactions.

In the definitions section of the Communiqué, the concept of “File” has been expanded to mean all information and documents obtained, created or compiled within the scope of the investigation and final review.

Furthermore, the definition of “Complainant” has been repealed, along with the provision stating that “the requests of Complainants and third parties will be evaluated within the framework of general provisions.”

2. EXPANSION OF THE DEFINITION OF INTRA-AUTHORITY CORRESPONDENCE

The Communiqué expands the scope of documents considered as Intra-Authority correspondence. The information and documents that will now be considered “Intra-Authority correspondence” under the Communiqué, and will therefore be excluded from the scope of the right of access to files, are:

• Information and documents obtained under the Communiqué on Active Cooperation for the Purpose of Detecting Cartels,
• Correspondence conducted by the institution with entities whose information is sought, such as other public institutions, professional organisations with public institution status, or private sector individuals and legal entities,
• Documents within the scope of the Communiqué on Settlement Procedures,

Minutes and attachments prepared under Article 15 of Law No. 4054.

3. REGULATIONS CONCERNING THE APPLICATION PERIOD AND THE FILE ACCESS FORM

The Communiqué contains a significant change regarding the application period for accessing a case file. According to this amendment, after an investigation report is announced, all the parties to whom the report is sent may apply to exercise their right to access the case file. Under the provisions of the Previous Communiqué, requests to access the case file made before the investigation report was sent to the parties could be postponed, taking into account the specific circumstances of the case and clearly stating the legal grounds. In this regard, the Communiqué clearly stipulates that applications to exercise the right to access the file may only be made after the investigation report has been sent to the parties.

It should be emphasized that the right to access the file is granted only once, unless new evidence is obtained during the investigation and final review. In addition, unlike the previous regulation, a clear provision has been introduced stating that if the access request form, included in an annex to the Communiqué, is not completed fully, and correctly, it will not be considered valid and will not be accepted.

4. USE OF INFORMATION AND DOCUMENTS ACCESSED THROUGH THE RIGHT TO ACCESS THE FILE

The Communiqué also stipulates that information or documents obtained under the right of access to files may only be used by the parties in defences to be made under Law No. 4054 and in applications to be made to the administrative courts in relation to the accessed file.

5. INVESTIGATIONS TO WHICH THE COMMUNIQUÉ APPLIES

A new paragraph added to the transitional provision stipulates that the amendments will not apply to investigations that are ongoing on the date when the Communiqué is published. Therefore, these amendments to the communiqué will not apply to ongoing investigations.

ASSESSMENT

With the Communiqué, the scope of undertakings that can apply for access to case files is limited to the parties to whom the investigation report is sent. The amendments regarding the use of the right to access the file in competition investigations and the protection of trade secrets have been clarified, thus ensuring compliance with the legislative changes made in recent years. In this context, as parties can only exercise their right to access the file once and as the file access request form must be completed fully and accurately, the importance of the Communiqué containing these amendments is evident.