ABSTRACT
The Vinerian principles of trade creation within the bloc and trade diversion away from non-bloc countries is especially prevalent within the EU, and can be clearly seen concerning the EU’s stance towards the UK since the exit for the UK from the European Union at the end of 2020. The very fact that the UK has decided to engage in a freeport policy flies in the face of European protectionism and the stifling of certain incentives towards fiscal and trade liberalisation, and shows that the UK now has a much more independent policy, free from the constraints of EU membership. Free zones (alternatively free ports or free-trade zones) are designated areas of a country, which are inside the geographic boundary of that country but are considered to be outside of that country for the purposes of the import duties. Free zones facilitate trading procedures by allowing fewer customs formalities for goods from the rest of the world.
