The Zarqa Free Zone

What a free zone actually is

A free zone is neither an entry point in the usual sense nor a commercial warehouse. It is an area treated for customs purposes as outside the local market, despite sitting inside the Kingdom's borders. Goods held there have not entered Jordan in the customs sense, so no duty is collected while they remain.

Which tells you its real use: it buys a deferred decision, not storage. It buys time to settle whether the goods enter the Jordanian market and duty is paid, or are re-exported to somewhere else.

Where the Zarqa Free Zone is, and who runs it

It sits in the Zarqa governorate, northeast of Amman, on the road network that carries freight between the capital, the Iraqi and Syrian borders and the port at Aqaba. That position — not the warehousing itself — is the reason cargo is held there rather than somewhere closer to its buyer.

It is not run by Customs and not by any broker. The operator is the Jordan Free and Development Zones Group, a public body that manages Jordan's free and development zones; Customs keeps a presence for the declarations, but the zone, its plots and its warehouses are the Group's. So there are two different offices behind any question you might have: rent, plots, gate hours and who may operate inside are the Group's to answer, and we point you to them rather than answer for them — the current figures are published on their own site, jfdz.jo. Entry and exit declarations, guarantees and duty are the customs side, and that is our half.

One practical note that catches people out: goods sitting in the zone are outside the market for customs purposes only. Storage there is still rented, still charged by time and volume, and still runs while your decision is pending. A free zone defers duty; it does not make holding goods free.

You came here asking about the zone — so where do you stand?

Most people who open this page are one of three, and each has a different next step:

• You just want to understand it. What you have read above is enough, and we are not asking you for anything. For rents, plots and gate hours, the body to ask is the Jordan Free and Development Zones Group, not us.
• You have goods in the zone and want them out. That is a full clearance procedure on the outgoing batch — tariff heading, approvals, valuation and duty. Send us the deposit declaration number and the goods description and we will tell you what it needs and what it costs before you start.
• Your shipment is still on the way and undecided. This is the best moment to ask, not the worst: the difference between depositing in the zone and clearing directly is worked out before arrival. After arrival the options narrow and the storage meter starts.

For the last two, the goods description, the value and what you expect to happen to them is enough. Send us that and we will cost both routes — and tell you which is cheaper even if the answer is that you have no need of the free zone at all.

When it's the right choice

• The destination isn't settled. You imported a quantity against a deal not yet closed, and don't want to pay duty before knowing whether you'll sell here or re-export.
• Re-export. The goods were always bound for another country, and Jordan is a staging point rather than a destination.
• Breaking up a large consignment. You bought in volume because the unit price is better but will sell over months. You release a batch and pay duty on that batch alone, rather than on the whole quantity at once. This works for vehicles as it does for cargo.
• Deferred cash. The practical result of the point above: capital isn't locked up in duty on goods that haven't sold.
• Goods awaiting a licence or approval still in process.

And when it isn't

Being straight here is more useful than selling: a free zone is not always cheaper.

• Goods that will all sell in Jordan soon. You'll pay the duty either way, and you'll have added holding costs and an extra movement for nothing.
• Small quantities. The fixed costs of entry and exit swallow any saving on a small volume.
• Perishable or short-dated goods. The time you buy is worthless if the goods themselves can't wait.
• When cash is available and the destination is settled. Direct clearance is simpler, shorter and involves fewer movements.

We work it out with you before you decide, and tell you plainly if direct clearance is cheaper for your shipment — even where that means less work for us.

What we handle in the free zone

• Entry. Moving the goods under customs control from their point of entry — usually Aqaba — to the zone, and completing the deposit procedure.
• Oversight while held. The goods remain governed by their customs status the whole time, which needs following rather than leaving.
• Release into the Jordanian market. A full clearance procedure with everything in it — tariff heading, approvals, valuation, duty — but on the released batch alone.
• Release as an export. Preparing the export declaration and following the procedure at the point of exit.
• Batching. Releasing successive batches on your instruction rather than the whole quantity.

How it differs from warehousing with us

A question that comes up constantly, and the difference is fundamental:

• The free zone — the goods are not cleared, no duty is paid, and they are under customs control. You cannot sell and deliver them locally before releasing them by formal procedure.
• Warehousing with us — the goods are cleared, the duty is paid and they are freely yours. They go to you or your customer whenever you say, with no customs procedure.

So if your concern is deferring duty, the free zone. If your concern is somewhere for cleared goods to sit until you need them, warehousing.

What we need from you

The goods description, value and quantity, the country of origin, the expected holding period, and what you expect their fate to be: local sale, re-export, or undecided. From those we calculate the difference between the two routes before you commit to either.