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March 18, 2005
Memorandum for Foreign-Trade Zone Grantees
From: Dennis Puccinelli
Executive Secretary
Subjects: Annual Report; Homeland Security; FTZ Contact
Information/Web Page; Small/Medium Manufacturers; Temporary Manufacturing
Authority; FTZ Staff Address
1. ANNUAL REPORTS
Enclosed is a copy of the recently published FTZ Board FY 2003 annual report. A copy of the
report is also available on our web site in both PDF and text formats: http://www.trade.gov/ftz.
Again, let me express our appreciation for your continued efforts to prepare and submit your
individual zone annual reports to the Board in a timely manner. Last year, most zones submitted
reports on time and responded quickly to our follow up questions. This was very important in
helping us to review and process over 300 reports and compile the statistics for our annual
report. A few were very late and this delayed our preparation of the enclosed report. Such
late reports are regarded as serious matters.
For the FY 2004 reporting cycle, we are making good progress, and we again express our
appreciation for your responsiveness. For grantees who have not yet submitted a final report
for FY 2004, we must ask that you and your operators make every effort to complete this
requirement within the next 30 days. Please note that even inactive zones must submit a very
brief status report (in letter format) indicating continued interest and a plan for activation.
For the FY 2005 reporting cycle, we have made some modifications to the annual report format
in order to make this process easier for you and us by improving our guidance in the report and
notes, particularly with respect to exports, discrepancies, and value added. An electronic copy
of the latest version of our annual report format is available on the FTZ web site –
http://www.trade.gov/ftz. We suggest that you download the new format and store it on your
computer, so that you do not need to reenter permanent zone information from year to year.
Oil refinery subzones have a special version of the annual report format called “Annual
Report Guidelines for Oil Refinery Subzones.” A copy of the oil refinery annual report guideline
can be found on the FTZ web site under the “Oil Refinery” menu item.
I ask grantees to pass a copy of this memo and the new annual report format to all of your
zone and subzone operators and ensure that all communications from the FTZ Board are made
available to those operators.
2. SECURITY
Security is a top priority. The Department of Homeland Security plays a key role with respect
to the Foreign-Trade Zones Program, particularly through its U.S. Customs and Border Protection
agency. We recognize that FTZs are subject to security requirements that exceed those required
of importers in general and that most FTZ grantees and operators have made substantial efforts
to maintain a secure environment. However, as we have indicated previously, in the high
security environment in which we are currently living, we must all work to improve our
procedures beyond what we have done in the past. FTZ grantees and operators have a special
responsibility to take extra care to ensure security within their zone project. Grantees and
operators should actively oversee all parties using the zone and be aware of all activities
occurring within the zone, conducting regular inspections of active zone facilities. They
should contact their Port Director of Customs and Border Protection if they have any concerns.
We ask that FTZ grantees and operators review and follow the guidelines in the security bulletin
published by Customs and posted on our web site. (From FTZ home page, go to "Already in a
Zone" and then "Customs and Border Protection Information.")
3. ZONE CONTACT INFORMATION; REORGANIZED WEB PAGE
Please keep us and the public up to date with respect to your zone information, including your
address, phone and contact person. The current list can be found on our web page under the menu
item “List of FTZs.” In order to make it easier for you to provide us with updated information,
we have provided an “e-mail” link at the beginning of the list on the web page. Please click on
that link or e-mail Elizabeth_Whiteman@ita.doc.gov to provide us with updated information
(include zone number, grantee organization, address, contact name, phone and fax numbers).
We have updated and reorganized our web page. The new web page includes more general zone
information (such as frequently asked questions), as well as information for existing zones. In
addition, we have revised application guidelines, and added other information for prospective
applicants.
4. INITIATIVE FOR SMALL- AND MEDIUM-SIZED MANUFACTURERS
As you may have heard, the Department of Commerce's initiative last year to reduce burdens for
small- and medium-sized manufacturers included a foreign-trade zone component. As a result, we
have developed certain new procedures and tools designed to improve access to FTZ procedures for
small- and medium-sized manufacturers. The main new procedure involves a streamlined process
for requesting temporary/interim manufacturing authority for eligible zone users. (See Item # 5
below.) There is a new page on the FTZ web site entitled "FTZ Manufacturing Toolbox -
Designed for Small- & Medium-Sized Manufacturers" that has more information on the tools/
guidelines for small- and medium-sized manufacturers. A link to this page can be found on the
home page of the FTZ Board's web site: http://www.trade.gov/ftz.
5. TEMPORARY MANUFACTURING AUTHORITY
We have a new procedure to provide temporary manufacturing authority to eligible zone users.
Temporary/Interim Manufacturing (T/IM) authority can be approved within existing zones and
subzones for a period of up to two years. We expect the processing time for a T/IM case to be
90 days. T/IM authority is intended for use by companies while they have a case pending for
permanent manufacturing authority or for circumstances where permanent authority is not needed.
Additional information on T/IM, including the application form and a database of eligible
products, is also available on our website.
5. FTZ OFFICE ADDRESS
This is a further reminder regarding the address of our new office space. The offices of the
FTZ staff are located in Suite 4100W of the Franklin Court Building, 1099 14th St., NW,
Washington, DC. Correspondence sent by non-U.S. Postal Service delivery services may be sent
directly to our new building at the first address below. Correspondence sent using the U.S.
Postal Service should be addressed to the second address below.
1. Address for Non-U.S. Postal Delivery Services
Foreign-Trade Zones Board
U.S. Department of Commerce
Franklin Court Building - Suite 4100W
1099 14th St., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20005
2. U.S. Postal Service Address
Foreign-Trade Zones Board
U.S. Department of Commerce
FCB - 4100W
1401 Constitution Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20230
FTZ Staff. For those of you that have not had the opportunity to visit the FTZ Board staff recently, I would like to provide you with an updated list of our staff members. Our e-mail addresses are first and last names, separated with an underscore (“_”), plus “@ita.doc.gov”.
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