The Jamaican Free Zones are a controversial government free trade zone initiative in Jamaica. A free trade zone ( FTZ) or export processing zone ( EPZ) is one or more special areas of a country where some normal Trade barriers such as Jamaica (ˈdʒəˈmeɪkə} is an Island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length and as much as in width situated in the Caribbean Sea. Designed to encourage foreign investment and international trade, businesses operating within these zones have no tax on their profits, and are exempted from customs duties on imports and exports (capital goods, raw materials, construction materials, and office equipment) and import licensing requirements. Foreign direct investment ( FDI) in its classic definition is defined as a company from one country making a physical investment into building a factory in another country International trade is exchange of Capital, Goods, and Services across International borders or Territories. Customs is an Authority or agency in a Country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods See also Taxation, Indirect Tax In Economics, a duty is a kind of Tax, often associated with Customs, a payment due to the In Economics, an import is any good (eg a Commodity) or Service brought into one country from another country in a legitimate fashion In Economics, an export is any good or Commodity, Transported from one country to another country in a Legitimate fashion Office supplies is the generic term that refers to all supplies regularly used in Offices by Businesses and other organizations from private citizens to governments An import license is a document issued by a national government authorizing the importation of certain goods into its territory However, they must export 85 percent of their products outside of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). The Caribbean Community ( CARICOM) is an organization of Caribbean nations and dependencies
There are five Jamaican Free Zones:
- Kingston Free Zone (KFZ) in Kingston was established in 1976 on ground adjacent to the Kingston Container Terminal. Kingston is the Capital and largest city of Jamaica and is located on the southeastern coast of the island country It was the first free zone established in Jamaica. The 180,000 m2 site contains 72,835 m2 of factory space.
- Montego Bay Free Zone (MBFZ) in Montego Bay was established in 1985 on a 95-acre site southwest of the city. Montego Bay is the fourth largest city in Jamaica and is the location of Jamaica's largest airport the Sir Donald Sangster International Airport. It has 488,110 feet2 of factory/office space. An additional 103,000 feet2 of space is being added specifically for information technology. Information technology ( IT) as defined by the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA is "the study design development implementation support [1]
- Garmex Free Zone
- Hayes Free Zone
- Cazoumar Free Zone
Kingston and Montego Bay are government-owned, while Cazoumar is privately-owned.
Companies outside of the zones can apply for free zone status as Single Entity Free Zones. Created under the Jamaica Export Free Zones Act, the zones are operated by the government. The zones were initially used to promote textile manufacturing and related industries, but the program has been expanded to include information technology, with addition clauses added to the act in 1996. Textile manufacturing is one of the oldest human industries The oldest known Textiles date back to about 5000 B Businesses that operate in the zones must be in the fields of manufacturing, warehousing and storage, distribution, processing, refining, assembly, packaging, or service operations. A warehouse is a commercial Building for Storage of Goods. Warehouses are used by Manufacturers Importers Exporters A distribution center for a set of products is a Warehouse or other specialized Building, often with Refrigeration or Air conditioning Refining (also called affining) is the process of Purification of a substance. Packaging is the science art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution storage sale and use
From 1985-1995 the combined export output of the zones in textiles was US$1. The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been 31 billion. Around 12,000 people were employed in the textile factories, about 1. 6 percent of the total workforce. However since 1995 the industry has been in a serious depression due to structural problems in Jamaica and increased foreign competition.
World Trade Organization rule changes agreed at the Doha Development Round will end export subsidies in 2007. The Doha Development Round is the current trade-negotiation round of the World Trade Organization (WTO which commenced in November 2001 Export subsidy is a government policy to encourage export of goods and discourage sale of goods on the domestic market through low-cost loans or tax relief for exporters or government
The free zones have been critized as United States-subsidized sweatshops. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A sweatshop is a working environment with very difficult or dangerous conditions usually where the workers have few rights or ways to address their situation The 2001 documentary film Life and Debt features interviews with free zone workers, as well as with several prominent critics such as Michael Manley (the former Prime Minister of Jamaica), that support this view. The year 2001 in film involved some significant events (For more about non-English films check sources in those languages Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt in one fashion or another to " Document " reality Life and Debt is a 2001 American Documentary film directed by Stephanie Black. Michael Norman Manley ON ( December 10, 1924 – March 6, 1997) was the fourth Prime Minister of Jamaica The Prime Minister of Jamaica is Jamaica 's Head of government, currently Bruce Golding. The minimum wage is US$30 a week. A minimum wage is the lowest hourly daily or monthly Wage that employers may legally pay to employees or workers
- See also: Entrepôt
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