Free economic zone
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Free economic zones (FEZ), free economic territories (FETs) or free zones (FZ) are a class of
Some special economic zones are called free ports. Sometimes they have historically been endowed with favorable customs regulations, such as the free port of Trieste.
Definition
The definition should be understood in meaning The International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Procedures (Revised Kyoto Convention) uses the term “free zones” which the revised convention describes as “a part of the territory of a Contracting Party where any goods introduced are generally regarded, insofar as import duties and taxes are concerned, as being outside the customs territory”.
History
An early type of special economic zone was free ports, these historically were endowed with favorable customs regulations. In modern times, free port has come to mean a specific type of special economic zone, for example LADOL.
All "free ports" in the world were permitted by the respective states, save the
In 1954, the Free Territory of Trieste was dissolved and given to its neighbours, Italy and Yugoslavia.
Criminal use
The European Union, in 2020, introduced new stricter rules to identify and report suspicious activities at free ports and zones in response to the "high incidence of corruption, tax evasion, and criminal activity", with a further review to take place in the following year, The
As an example, the commission cited Swiss authorities' 2016 seizure of cultural relics looted from the Middle East being stored in Geneva's free ports.[5][6]
The free port system has been accused of facilitating international art crime, allowing stolen artworks to remain undetected in storage for decades.[7] Freeports' lax regulation enables criminals to operate in secrecy. Freeports may facilitate money laundering and tax evasion by obscuring the real beneficial owners of criminal assets, which hinders authorities' efforts to trace criminal profits and recover taxes.[8]
List of free economic zones by country
See also
- Bonded logistics park - another type of SEZ
- Free-trade zone - another type of SEZ
- Free-trade area
- Bonded warehouse
- Four Asian Tigers
- Open Balkan
- Craiovia Group
- CEFTA
References
- S2CID 212956756.
- ^ "WTO Subsidies and Countervailing Measures: overview. Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures ("SCM Agreement")". www.wto.org. World Trade Organization. Archived from the original on 23 December 2020.
- ^ "S/Res/16(1947) - e - S/Res/16(1947)".
- ^ "Treaty Series Vol. 49" United Nations. Retrieved 2023-12-10.
- ^ Daniel Boffey (10 February 2020). "EU clamps down on free ports over crime and terrorism links". The Guardian.
- ^ "Russian war in Ukraine renews pressure on Swiss free ports". 17 June 2022.
- ^ Rachel Corbett; Julia Halperin; Richelle Simon (30 June 2015). "Experts identify top six scandals amid boom in art crime". The Art Newspaper.
- S2CID 236602615.
Bibliography
- "Specific Annex D: Customs Warehouses and Free Zones", International Convention on the Simplication and Harmonization of Customs Procedures (Revised Kyoto Convention), World Customs Organization, 1999