WHAT ARE FOREIGN TRADE ZONES?

In 1934 the U.S. Congress passed the Foreign-Trade Zones Act to encourage foreign commerce and growth. This Act was amended in 1950 to encompass manufacturing in zones,which greatly stimulated international trade and created jobs and investment in the United States.

The official definition is found in the regulations as follows:

A restricted-access site, in or adjacent to a Customs port of entry, operated pursuant of public utility principles under the sponsorship of a corporation granted authority by the Board and under supervision of the Customs and Border Protection(CBP). FTZ's are treated, for the purposes of the tariff laws and Customs entry procedures, as being outside the Customs territory of the United States and thereby not subject to Customs duties or certain excise taxes.

.FTZ NO. 122:

Foreign-Trade Zone No. 122 was established September 5, 1985. It was the first continental zone to have an oil refinery subzone and is one of the largest zones, encompassing 24,990 acres. The Port of Corpus Christi (Port) is the grantee for FTZ No. 122 and offers constant support to both the general-purpose and subzone operators. As provided by Title 15, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 400 (Commerce and Foreign Trade), the Port of Corpus Christi can sponsor a zone within a 60-mile radius or 90 minute drive time. Adhering to these regulations, FTZ No. 122 extends well beyond Port properties as users and operators are located throughout Corpus Christi as well as other nearby cities.

The Port of Corpus Christi has six general-purpose zones located in either industrial parks or on Port property. All general-purpose facilities are available for use by the public. The Port also supports twelve subzones, which are sites sponsored by a grantee on behalf of an individual firm. Subzones are single purpose sites that cannot be operated in general-purpose zones; e.g., oil refineries, pigment manufacturers. All of the zones, whether they are general-purpose zones or individual subzones, are multi-purpose facilities that handle many types of merchandise. In 2005, the receipts and transfers of petroleum products totaled 87% of the Port’s total FTZ activity. With all of these sites and new technology, local companies are increasing their competitiveness with their counterparts abroad.

One major improvement to the Port of Corpus Christi is the dockside-refrigerated warehouse in General Purpose Zone Site No. 1. The cold storage facility handles cargo from markets in North America, Mexico, Central and South America, Europe, Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Russia.

In order to promote the refrigerated facility, the Port is centering their marketing efforts on developing potential business contacts both abroad and in the domestic marketplace. The cold storage facility can be activated and is used primarily at year-end to benefit users by avoiding ad valorem taxes..(See listing & map.)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

If you are interested in obtaining more information about FTZ's in Corpus Christi or the zone application and activation process, or fee schedule, please contact:

The Port of Corpus Christi
Foreign-Trade Zone #122 Manager
Sonya Lopez-Sosa
1305 N. Shoreline Blvd.
Corpus Christi, TX 78401
Email: Sonya@pocca.com
Tel: 361-885-6187

OTHER FTZ LINKS:

www.trade.gov/ftz - Foreign Trade Zones Board
www.naftz.org - National Association of Foreign Trade Zones

To view PDF presentation, click here.