Tunisia Way

Free Trade Zones

Over 130 companies have submitted requests to invest in Tunisia's two free trade zones. Sixty companies, of which fifty are foreign, made requests to operate in the Bizerte Harbor Free Trade Zone, located sixty kilometers north of Tunis. Most of these companies are French, but requests have also come from American, German, British, Danish, Belgian, Japanese, Indonesian and Egyptian companies. These foreign companies are seeking to invest in the electronics, metals, pharmaceuticals and food industries.

The second free trade zone, in Zarzis Harbor, is 450 kilometers south of Tunis, near the Libyan border. Over seventy foreign companies have already submitted requests to invest in this zone, most of them French. The Zarzis zone spans over 380,000 square meters. Twenty million dollars have been invested to establish this zone, part of which will be utilized to expand the harbor facilities at Zarzis. The harbor is currently used to import oil from Libya, among other activities.

Customs

Since March 1994 and the enactment of Law No. 94-41, which embodies the policy of the free trade principle adopted in other liberalization measures, Tunisia has allowed the free importation and exportation of goods, with the exception of restrictions relating to national security, public order, health and hygiene and the protection of flora, fauna and natural heritage.

Tunisia's basic tariff rate ranges from 10 percent to 43 percent. In addition, several years ago Tunisia imposed a temporary supplemental duty on certain imports that compete with locally produced goods. This duty was originally scheduled to be phased out at the end of 1994, but remains in effect.