Free zone
Also called: serbest bölge · foreign-trade zone · FTZ · freeport
An enclosed area within a customs territory where non-Union or foreign goods can be stored, handled or processed without import duty being charged until they enter the domestic market. Türkiye has free zones under Law No. 3218, the US operates foreign-trade zones, and the UK has designated freeports with customs sites.
In practice
Production for export inside a free zone can avoid duty on imported inputs, but rules on sales into the domestic market and tax treatment vary widely.
EU
Türkiye
USA
UKRelated terms
- Customs warehouse
- A place authorised by customs where non-Union goods can be stored without paying import duty and VAT until they are released for free circulation or…
- Special procedures
- The procedures other than release for free circulation and export: transit, storage (customs warehousing and free zones), specific use (temporary…
- Re-export
- Taking non-Union goods out of the customs territory after they have been under a special procedure, in temporary storage or in a free zone. It is…