High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! A free trade zone (FTZ) or export processing zone (EPZ), also called foreign-trade zone, formerly free port is an area within which goods may be landed, handled, manufactured or reconfigured, and reexported without the intervention of the customs authorities. Only when the goods are moved to consumers within the country in which the zone is located do they become subject to the prevailing customs duties. Free-trade zones are organized around major seaports, international airports, and national frontiers—areas with many geographic advantages for trade. It is a region where a group of countries has agreed to reduce or eliminate trade barriers. Free trade zones can be defined as labor intensive manufacturing centers that involve the import of raw materials or components and the export of factory products. The world's first Free Trade Zone was established in Shannon, County Clare, Shannon Free Zone. This was an attempt by the Irish Government to...