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Nation to create free-trade ports to boost economy

By EARLE GALE in London | China Daily Global | Updated: 2020-02-11 09:24

Freight trucks move through the terminal at the Port of Dover, Britain, Oct 11, 2019. [Photo/Agencies]

The United Kingdom is looking to create up to 10 special areas, called freeports, into which items may be imported without the need to pay duty and other tariffs.

They could be up and running as soon as next year and are among a raft of changes the British government intends to make in the wake of the nation's Jan 31 exit from the European Union.

The process is beginning with a 10-week consultation phase that started on Monday.

The 10 locations should be known by the end of the year.

Government ministers claim freeports, which are also known as free-trade ports, will fuel economic growth but critics say they could be used for money-laundering, The Guardian newspaper reports.

Britain's prime minister, Boris Johnson, is a strong supporter of freeports and spoke of their advantages during his 2019 campaign to become Conservative Party leader.

Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom said freeports "represent a fantastic opportunity for our businesses to increase their trade with companies from all over the world".

And Rishi Sunak, the chief secretary to the Treasury, said: "Freeports will unleash the potential in our proud historic ports, boosting and regenerating communities across the UK."

The freeports will be secure areas into which items can be imported duty-free. Items can then be reexported without duty being paid in the UK. Manufacturers will also be able to import raw materials and component parts and process them in the special areas and will only have to pay duty on the finished items they make. The government also plans to introduce tax breaks to make it easier to invest in infrastructure and construction within the zones. And it intends to bring in unspecified measures to "reduce the costs of hiring workers "in the freeports.

The measures should make the areas cheaper places for manufacturers to do business, giving them an economic boost and an influx of jobs, the government says.

It is thought that the zones could be used to stimulate deprived coastal areas and parts of northern England where many voters switched allegiances in the last general election, from the Labour Party to Johnson's Conservatives.

Potential freeports, including sea, air, and rail hubs, can apply to be considered after the consultation phase ends.

Al Jazeera notes that the freeports will also be used to trial customs, transport, and green technologies ahead of them being more widely adopted.

The Labour Party responded to the announcement by saying that freeports are an outdated idea that would undermine the rules that apply in the rest of the UK.

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, told The Guardian they were a "revival of a failed Thatcherite plan from the 1980s designed to cut away at regulation and our tax base".

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