FTZ General Info - Port of Corpus Christi

WHAT IS FOREIGN TRADE ZONE ?

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 of a Foreign Trade Zone 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 #122
Foreign Trade Zone #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 almost 25,000 acres. The Port of Corpus Christi is the grantee for FTZ #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 #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 currently 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 fourteen 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, such as 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.

Activities permitted in a Foreign Trade Zone - Merchandise entering a zone may be:

Manufactured *
Stored
Salvaged
Processed

Assembled
Tested
Sampled
Relabeled

Repackaged
Destroyed
Mixed
Manipulated

TYPES OF ZONES

There are two types of zones: General-purpose Zones and Special-purpose Zones, better known as Subzones.

General-purpose zones are usually at ports or industrial parks and must be open to multiple users. The most common use of a general-purpose zone is for warehouse and distribution activity. Although manufacturing and processing activities are allowed within a general-purpose zone, authorization from the Foreign-Trade Zones Board must be granted.

The Port has included most port facilities into the general-purpose zone to make them available for FTZ use. FTZ #122 currently has three active general-purpose sites:

Port Corpus Christi
Gavilon Fertilizer (manufacturing facility)
Ray West Warehouses, Inc.

Subzones are sites approved for use by one company for a specific activity. Subzones are usually at manufacturing plants who are unable to operate in a general-purpose zone; i.e., oil refineries, pigment manufacturers.

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:

Sonya Lopez-Sosa

Foreign-Trade Zone #122 Manager, Port Corpus Christi, 222 Power Street, Corpus Christi, TX 78401

Email: sonya@pocca.com | Tel: 361/885-6187