Free Commerce Zone Concept

The expression Free Commerce Zone designates an economic space formed by a group of countries who decided to eliminate among themselves several types of restriction to the free circulation of merchandise produced inside this economic space. This way, are eliminated the customs and commercial barriers in the transactions between the Free Commerce Zone member-countries maintaining, simultaneously, the customs barriers and the quantitative restrictions in the commercial transactions with countries non members without, however, existing a common customs tariff. Two examples of Free Commerce Zones are EAFC (European Association of Free Commerce) of which Portugal belonged until its adherence to the EEC (European Economic Community) in 1986, and the Andean Group formed by several South American countries.

 

 

Translated from Portuguese by Susana Saraiva, Portuguese-English and English-Portuguese translation specialist. Contact: spams@sapo.pt.