Free Zone Operations
Free zones are special areas deemed to lie outside the customs territory: goods may sit there duty-free, be processed, stored and re-exported. Used correctly, they deliver a serious duty and cash flow advantage for manufacturing, transit trade and regional distribution models. From entry and exit formalities to zone directorate procedures, we run every step on your behalf.
Free zone processing forms
A processing form must be issued and approved for every consignment entering or leaving the free zone. We manage the correct completion of the forms, the follow-up of approvals and full compliance with the zone legislation end to end.
Entry and exit clearance
Goods moving from the domestic market into the zone are subject to export provisions, and goods coming from the zone into the domestic market to import provisions. We lodge the declarations in both directions and complete the formalities without holding up your operation. For shipments made directly from the zone to third countries, import duty never arises at all.
Zone directorate and operator procedures
Operating licences, warehouse and land allocation, permits and correspondence — the administrative burden of a free zone operation is too great to underestimate. We stand alongside you in applications and follow-up before the zone directorate and the operating company.
Stock, production and status monitoring
Whether goods in the zone are of Turkish or third-country origin, and their free circulation status, directly determines the duty you will pay on a domestic sale. We monitor your stock and status records regularly; for manufacturers, we make sure the input-output relationship stays consistent with the customs records.
Frequently asked
Yes. Entry from a free zone into Türkiye counts, for customs purposes, as release for free circulation, and import duties arise. But the taxable base and the rate are determined by the origin and status of the goods; with goods supported by an A.TR or a certificate of origin the picture can be completely different. We calculate the cost specifically for your operation, before the sale.
If you import your inputs duty-free, manufacture in the zone and export the product directly to third countries, no import duty arises at any stage. If you sell the product domestically, duty is paid only on that consignment, at the moment of sale. For export-oriented manufacturers in particular, this is a powerful cash flow advantage.
As a rule no time limit is foreseen for goods in free zones; goods may remain indefinitely. In practice the limit is set by the storage cost you pay the operating company and by your stock strategy. If any special condition applies to your file, we clarify it at the outset.
Yes, goods can be bought, sold and transferred while in the zone; this is the principal feature that makes free zones attractive for transit trade. Transfers must be properly reflected on the processing forms and in the zone records — otherwise the stock reconciliation breaks down. We handle the process.