Sworn Translation in Karaman

The first thing Karaman brings to mind is food production, and that carries straight over into the translation work. The food sector is one of the fields with the tightest documentary discipline: every ingredient in the product, every condition at the place of manufacture and every statement on the packaging has to stand open to inspection. Files from here therefore fall into the category of “short but unforgiving”.

Why label translation is a job of its own

Translating packaging copy looks like a few lines of work. In reality the legislation of the receiving country settles which information appears and in what order, how allergen warnings are to be emphasised and how the nutrition table is to be presented. A free translation here can keep the product off the shelf. On label work coming from Karaman we supply, along with the translation, a note on why each piece of wording has been used as it has.

The factory’s other folders

Beyond labels there is a steady flow: customer audit reports, food safety management system documents, supplier specifications, export contracts and trade fair presentations. Because the volume here is high, building a term pool brings a serious return over time; the second and third jobs come out both faster and cheaper.

Document	Destination	Frequency
Packaging and label copy	Export market	High
Product specification	Buying company	High
Audit report	Customer auditors	Medium
Commercial contract	Distributor	Medium
Personal documents	Procedures abroad	Low to medium

The weight of English and German

Karaman’s food exports run largely through English, while German comes second, owing both to buyers in the European market and to the overseas affairs of families in the province. Needs in other languages are usually one-off, but the tariff works on the same principle in every language; the detail is on the pricing page.

Certification applications

For a food producer to be able to export usually means going through a certification process. The application files put before the inspecting body consist of a description of the plant, process flows, hazard analyses, staff training records and corrective action reports. Because these files are assessed as a whole, every document within them has to be translated to the same terminological scheme.

The responses given to findings raised during an audit need translating as well, and they are generally wanted at very short notice. Striking a measured tone in this correspondence matters: wording that neither makes light of the problem nor takes on more responsibility than it should. The tone of the text can affect how the file is assessed.

Sample shipments bring paperwork of their own. The product information forms, analysis results and covering letters that accompany a sample are small in volume but closed to delay. Since the buying company will take the sample for assessment on a particular date, the papers have to travel with the product.

Another feature of certification files is that they are renewed annually. Because the same documents are updated and resubmitted every year, the structure established in the first translation saves a great deal of time in the years that follow. The sections that have changed are marked and only those are reworked, which brings both the cost and the delivery time down markedly.

The relationship between packaging design and translation is another matter we meet often. When the text in the target language comes out longer than the Turkish, it may not fit the design. Rather than cut it back arbitrarily, we prepare a version that keeps the mandatory information and pares down the explanatory passages, and we tell the client what has been shortened and why.

There is a flow on the supplier side too: on purchases of raw materials and additives, the specification and analysis documents coming from the foreign producer are to be translated into Turkish. Because these documents are used in production planning, quick delivery counts for as much as technical accuracy.

We have no branch in Karaman and we make no attempt to conceal it; the process runs at the office in Ankara and the approved copy arrives by courier. In a province of relatively small population, a need for translation specialised to the level of label legislation or a certification file cannot always be met locally in any case. On a label revision that has to keep pace with the production line the file goes online whatever its size, and nobody has to set out on a journey.

How a large file is handled in a small province

In a province with a relatively small population such as Karaman, it is not always possible to meet a need for specialised translation locally. Working remotely closes that gap: whatever the size of the file, it can be sent online, the work runs in Ankara, and the approved copy arrives by courier. Nobody has to set out on a journey for a label revision that must keep pace with the production line. For the page count and the delivery date you can use the quotation form.