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Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced the location of eight regional freeports in the Budget after a bidding process that began earlier this year. He confirmed that freeports will be located at East Midlands Airport, Felixstowe and Harwich, the Humber region, the Liverpool City Region, Plymouth, Solent, Thames and Teesside. Mr Sunak said the freeports will have “simpler planning”, “cheaper customs – with favourable tariffs, VAT or duties”, and lower taxes – with “tax breaks to encourage construction, private investment and job creation”.
The concept is a significant part of the UK’s post-Brexit landscape, which the Government hopes will provide hubs for enhanced trade and promote investment and regeneration for economically deprived areas.
The country has had freeports before, but those – established in the Eighties and Nineties in ports like Liverpool and Tilbury – eventually withered and died.
All they could offer was freedom from customs duties, and this was not enough on its own, as more or less the same benefits could be gained by importers and exporters through normal customs procedures.
This time around, UK freeports will have greater attractions, such as streamlined planning processes, tax relief packages, simplified customs procedures and duty suspensions on goods.
These key elements are similar to the ones enjoyed by Singapore, which has boosted its economy thanks to the creation of freeports.
In an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk, the chief executive of Maritime UK, Ben Murray, explained how freeports will be able to turn Britain into an “attractive business environment”.
He said: “Freeports have two components.
“You have the custom part, which is some easement to making certain parts of the custom process not applied in its entirety.
“Then you have another side, which in many ways, we think will be the most useful.
“It is the shots in the arm to support the area.
“You will have a fast planning process so our ports, for instance, will be able to get on and spend more money quicker.
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“We didn’t.”
Mr Murray noted the Government often used the EU as an excuse.
He added: “That excuse is not there anymore, though.
“And yes, now that we are outside the bloc, there are areas where we can go further.”
Jonathan Branton, a partner at law firm DWF, echoed Mr Murray’s claims, as he told the BBC the UK does have more flexibility now it doesn’t have to follow EU rules, as the UK can adopt a more generous freeport policy.
For example, by giving businesses more financial help.
He also pointed out tax breaks offered to freeport firms would no longer require prior agreement from the European Commission.
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