Free-port

By:

James Knight

James is a lead editor for Invezz, where he covers topics from across the financial world, from the stock… read more.

Updated: Aug 20, 2021

Ad disclosure

Invezz is an independent platform with the goal of helping users achieve financial freedom. In order to fund our work, we partner with advertisers who compensate us for users that Invezz refers to their services. While our reviews and assessments of each product on the site are independent and unbiased, brands may pay to appear higher up our table rankings or place ads in specific areas of the site. The order in which products and services appear on Invezz does not represent an endorsement from us, and please be aware that there may be other platforms available to you than the products and services that appear on our website. Read more about how we make money >

To facilitate the flow of international trade, and to help the balance of payments of the countries operating them, a number of free-ports have been ; established throughout the world and six have now been established within the U.K. The advantage of a free-port is that goods can be moved through the area of the port without being subject to any customs or tariff charges or barriers. This is particularly significant in the context of entrepót trade. The absence of customs barriers does not permit the landing of cargoes that are prohibited by the country operating the port, but the privileges afforded and the tendency to relax supervision are not infrequently abused by the more unscrupulous traders.

Reference: The Penguin Business Dictionary, 3rd edt.