Deutschlands Freihandelszone - Germany's Free Trade Zone

As we continue the journey throughout Germany, a large topic of choice would the be free trade zones. This is dealing directly with Germany’s economy. There are five free-trade zones in Germany that were established and operating under EU law. These zones are Bremerhaven, Cuxhaven, Deggendorf, Duisburg and Hamburg.

“These duty-free zones within ports also permit value-added processing and manufacturing for EU-external markets, albeit with certain requirements. All of them are open to both domestic and foreign entities. In recent years falling tariffs and the progressive enlargement of the EU have gradually eroded much of the utility and attractiveness of duty-free zones. Kiel and Emden lost free-trade zone status in 2010. Hamburg will lose its free-trade zone status in 2013.”

So now there are only four free-trade zones in Germany because Hamburg lost its free-trade zone status in 2013. Some of these benefits of having a free trade zone as shown as the following:

1. Deferral, reduction, or elimination of certain duties.

2. Relief from inverted tariffs.

3. Duty exemption on re-exports.

4. Duty elimination on wastes, scraps, and yield loss.

5. Weekly entry savings.

6. Improved compliance, inventory tracking, and quality control.

7. Indefinite Storage.

8. Waived customs duties on zone-to-zone transfers.

Sources:

https://www.state.gov/e/eb/rls/othr/ics/2012/191154.htm

http://www.inboundlogistics.com/cms/article/the-benefits-of-using-a-foreign-trade-zone/

Source: Deutsche Bundesbank, Bestandserhebung über Direktinvestitionen, April 2011