'Obtaining the ASF designation makes our FTZ a more effective marketing tool,' said Jack Hedge, the port's director of real estate and asset management, in a statement. 'We will now be able to dramatically increase our flexibility and speed in designating and adjusting sites within our FTZ to meet our customers' needs.'
Under the new ASF program:
' The application the port and the company need to complete for FTZ designation has been greatly simplified.
' A company is able to obtain the FTZ designation more quickly — within 30 days instead of six months to a year.
' The entire process can be completed with less expense than in the past.
FTZs give importers and exporters a flexible way to ship, store and add value to goods while delaying, reducing or in some cases eliminating payment of U.S. Customs duties.
With the ASF application approval, FTZ No. 86 now consists of 11 industrial parks or property that cover more than 2,235 acres of both port land and privately owned land. FTZ No. 86 was first established in 1983, and has been expanded three times over the years, the port authority said.
Mazda and Kia both use Tacoma's FTZ to process imported vehicles. In addition, Puget Sound International, Norvanco International and Pacific Distribution Services provide FTZ warehousing services to companies involved in the import, manipulation and distribution of a wide range of products.
Tacoma's FTZ ranks third among 35 West Coast FTZs and 18th out of 272 U.S. FTZs in terms of dollar value of foreign merchandise admitted into the zone. According to the port authority the total dollar value of foreign merchandise that moved through FTZ No. 86 tripled to $1.3 billion in fiscal year 2010.
