Fresh salmon mostly arrives by air: it is boxed with ice at source, spends a few hours in the aircraft and is processed in the cargo terminal. The first Turkish link is the collection; release time and product temperature at that moment are the first line of the record.
Order, species, lot, quantity, seller paperwork, flight record and seals are compared, and any mismatch is written down before unloading. The product must also come from a permitted country and establishment and carry a health certificate (Article 83). Temperature is read from the ice slurry or the fish; checking more than one box shows whether a deviation is isolated or general.
| Product | Temperature (Articles 51 and 52) |
|---|---|
| Fresh, thawed unprocessed | Close to melting ice |
| Frozen | -18 °C or below throughout |
The acceptance threshold is written in advance: which value means normal acceptance, which means conditional acceptance with priority sale, which means rejection. Without a written threshold the decision usually goes towards acceptance. On the leg from terminal to store the product must carry its own cold; in a vehicle waiting in traffic, an insulated container with eutectic plates is unaffected by the engine stopping.
