In a series of articles to be published in subsequent issues of “Logistyka”, the authors present the current situation regarding the operation of Free Trade Zones in Poland and their links to logistics activities. They draw attention to lost opportunities for increasing the volume of logistics work resulting from the current legal status regarding customs and VAT collection, and also point out possibilities for improvement and potential benefits for enterprises and the economy.
In discussions about planning the construction of a network of logistics centers, an interesting thread is overlooked: the possibility of using free trade zones as an organizational element, enabling the capture of goods flows moving through international logistics networks and performing operations on goods
Definition of a Free Trade Zone:
A Free Trade Zone (FTZ) is a separated part of the customs territory where domestic and foreign economic entities can conduct production and trade activities, benefiting from a system of non-collection of customs duties and taxes.
Advantages of a Free Trade Zone1
A Free Trade Zone is a place where processes typical for logistics take place: storage, warehousing, packaging, consolidation, and deconsolidation of goods intended for foreign recipients or imported by importers for domestic needs.
Storing goods in an FTZ and performing processing, refining, and logistics operations on them is associated with a number of significant commercial benefits.