FDi Magazine has ranked Jacksonville’s Foreign Trade Zone the third best port zone in the world. Shanghai and Tangier, Morocco ranked No. 1 and 2, respectively.

A Foreign Trade Zone, or FTZ, is a secured site within the United States, but technically considered outside of U.S. Customs’ jurisdiction. By streamlining customs clearance, foreign trade zones help importers, exporters and manufacturers operate more efficiently. Locating a production or operating facility within a foreign trade zone can benefit businesses by:

• Exempting tariffs on re-exports;
• Paying U.S. Customs duties only when goods are transferred out of the FTZ and into the United States (no duties on zone-to-zone transfers);
• Managing merchandise subject to quotas; and
• Exempting duties on merchandise that becomes waste, defective or damaged while in the zone.

Foreign Trade Zone #64 covers 1,400 acres in Jacksonville, including several industrial parks, the Jacksonville Airport Authority’s Jacksonville International Airport and JAXPORT’s three cargo terminals, as well as freezer and cold storage facilities at the Talleyrand Marine Terminal. JAXPORT can also temporarily obtain a minor boundary relocation for non-manufacturing operations to quickly cover a site not currently under the FTZ umbrella, and then apply for permanent status.

For more information about FTZ #64, call the Zone Administrator at (800) 874-8050 or (904) 357-3072.