Program History
Foreign-Trade Zone concept was first explored
by Governor John A. Burns (who served in Congress
prior to Statehood in 1959) in the early 1960's. Hawaii's FTZ program evolved as a result of a 1963 study by Dr. John Hazard, University of Hawaii: "Transshipment Hawaii, Steps Toward an East-West Distribution and Processing Center." The study focused on use of a Foreign-Trade Zone as key to development of new trade patterns for Hawaii.
In 1964, the grant application was filed with the Foreign-Trade Zones Board of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Approval of the grant was received on February 15, 1965 by FTZ Board Order No. 65.
Pier 39, Honolulu Harbor, was leased from the U.S. Army as the site for FTZ-9. The Zone was activated on June 15, 1966.
Examples of initial Zone users were importers of automobiles, textiles, handicraft, liquor and beer, powdered milk, undersea telephone cable, newsprint, and jewelry. During the first year of operation, 61 companies were served that handled 83 different commodities valued at $1.7 million.
To accommodate the growing use of the Zone, FTZ-9 expanded its Pier 39 site into the warehouse and yard areas on January 29, 1968 (FTZ Board Order No. 75).
During 1969, FTZ-9 served 94 businesses that handled 139 different commodities valued at over $5.1 million. The active Zone area at Pier 39 was further expanded by 113,525 sq. ft. (FTZ Board Order No. 81, 9/30/69).
A State application on behalf of Hawaiian Independent Refinery, Inc. (HIRI) was filed with the FTZ Board to obtain authority for establishment of a petroleum refinery within a 112-acre tract at James Campbell Industrial Park, Ewa (Kapolei), Oahu. The FTZ Board issued a grant of authority for HIRI to operate as a Foreign-Trade Subzone on April 20, 1970, and on April 7, 1972, HIRI opened for operations as Subzone 9A, producing 29,500 barrels per day of jet, diesel, LPG, LSFO and bunker fuels for the U.S. government, domestic and overseas markets. Crude oil imports are shipped from foreign and domestic sources.
