Features & Benefits of a Pharmaceutical Foreign Trade Zone

August 22, 2016

What is a Foreign Trade Zone?

The U.S. Foreign Trade Zone program was established by the Foreign Trade Zone Act of 1934 to “expedite and encourage foreign commerce” in the United States. Certain geographical areas, in or adjacent to Customs Ports of Entry, can obtain foreign-trade zone (FTZ) status and receive commercial merchandise under the same Customs standards as if it were outside the commerce of the United States. Any merchandise, including pharmaceutical products, admitted and held in a foreign trade zone can be exempt of any Customs duties, tariffs and other ad valorem taxes. No duty or back taxes are charged on “value-added,” or foreign-sourced parts or materials incorporated into a finished product using U.S. parts and labor until the product is officially imported into the U.S. Commerce. This tariff and tax relief lowers the costs of U.S.-based organizations engaged in international trade while creating and retaining employment and capital investment opportunities that result from those operations.

Benefits to the Biopharmaceutical Industry

Pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies can take advantage of Sentry’s GMP temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical storage and light manufacturing facility, which resides in a foreign trade zone.  Sentry’s zone allows drug product to reside within the product’s designated temperature range, (such as API, biologics, controlled substances, etc.), while awaiting clearance for importation by the CBP and approved for distribution by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA).

During its stay in the FTZ, the biopharmaceutical product can be further labeled and secondarily packaged while greatly mitigating the numerous logistic and economic challenges encountered throughout the drug importation and development process.

Logistic Benefits

EconomicBenefits

Sentry BioPharma Services’ pharmaceutical supply chain management expertise and FTZ status across all storage environments ensures product integrity and project management flexibility.

For more information about how Sentry’s Foreign Trade Zone can help you optimize your medical and pharmaceutical import/export process, contact Sentry via email or by phone at 1-866-757-7400.

Read more about the Greater Indianapolis Foreign Trade Zone: inzone.org