Free Trade Zones
“Excellent availability. Great technical knowledge, especially in matters relating to free trade zones and customs.”
— The Legal 500
The Central American region offers considerable competitive advantages for international companies that establish operations in different countries. Among them, the benefits granted by the Free Trade Zone (“FTZ”) Regime include, according to each country, special customs treatment and tax exemptions on income, sales or VAT, repatriation of capital, remittances, dividends, import of raw materials and equipment, and other national and local tax amnesties.
The region has managed to attract international manufacturers and distributors from various industries, such as the Textile Industry, Agroindustry, Light Industrial Manufacturing, Life Sciences and Medical Devices, Automotive, Aerospace, and Electronics.
In addition, the FTZ Regime has been extremely successful in the area of services, which includes Call Centers, Shared Services, Back-office, Customer Service, Software Development, Logistics, Research and Development (R & D), and Quality Control.
Our FTZ Practice is composed of a team of highly specialized lawyers dedicated exclusively to advising companies in the area. They are active members of FTZ chambers in the countries of the region. Moreover, team members have contributed to the process of creating the current legal framework of the FTZ Regime and are regular authors of articles in the field.
Services
Our team of experts offers the full range of legal services required by FTZ operatives, including the following:
- Comprehensive general advice on day-to-day questions in all areas of law.
- Advice and strategy planning within the FTZ.
- The application process of the FTZ Regime before governmental entities.
- Expansion of operations.
- Amendments to project approvals within the system.
- Advice on customs matters (transit and inspections).
- Processing of all operational permits required for a specific activity.
- Due diligence, and mergers and acquisitions of FTZ companies.
- The discontinuance of FTZ membership and termination of regime operations.
Capabilities of our practice
We represent 70%
We represent 70% of the Fortune 500 companies that operate in the Free Trade Zone (FTZ).
Top 10
Our clients are among the country’s Top 10 exporters of goods and services.
$1 billion
The Costa Rican operations of BLP’s FTZ clients generate more than $1 billion in annual sales.
30,000 jobs
Our clients have created more than 30,000 local jobs.