FTZ at Your Business (through the Alternative Site Framework “ASF”)
Companies can operate their own FTZ on site in Hawaii. To have an area at your business location designated as FTZ, contact Foreign-Trade Zone No. 9 (FTZ9). Our staff can provide guidance through the approval process. The National Foreign-Trade Zones Board (FTZ Board) is the organization that grants FTZ authorization with consent from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). This is a new offering through the Alternative Site Framework (ASF). The traditional framework limited the location of FTZ’s to designated areas. ASF opens the location of FTZ’s to anywhere in the State of Hawaii.
First steps to establish an FTZ at your location:
- Assess the level of international trade and tariff rates savings vs. costs of transporting goods in bond to your location with your customs broker.
- Identify any security and operating improvements required to abide by CBP rules, and estimate associated costs.
- Document personnel policies and security procedures for on-site FTZ in accordance with FTZ9 and CBP guidance.
- Document property ownership and authorization to establish on-site FTZ.
- Submit a “Minor Boundary Modification” via FTZ9 to the FTZ Board. Comments from the local CBP Port Director should be included with your request.
FTZ9 staff are available to facilitate the establishment of new FTZ’s under the Alternative Site Framework, and are responsible to submit any “Minor Boundary Modification” to the FTZ Board. Please contact FTZ9 if you have any questions.
If your company would like to manufacture in your on-site FTZ to take advantage of inverted tariff rules and reduced import duties, additional authorization is required. To request production authority FTZ, submit a “Production Notification” via FTZ9 to the FTZ Board. The FTZ Board makes a decision on a production notification within 120 days from submission. Specific production authority within a FTZ is required if the activity:
- Results in a change in the HTSUS number at the 6-digit level of any imported component.
- Involves the substantial transformation of a foreign article.
- Results in a change in the eligibility for entry of any foreign article.