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FreeZones Single Window

Law on the formation and management of free zones

A free zone is a protected area, the boundaries of which are determined by the Islamic Consultative Assembly and are exempt from certain current laws and regulations of the mainland. The free zones are governed by their own rules, which have been app

Part One – Goals

Article 1 - In order to accelerate implementation of infrastructure plans, development and economic growth, investment and increase of public income, and to create healthy and productive employment, regulate the labor market and goods, active presence in global and Zone markets, produce and export industrial and converted goods and provide public services, the Government is authorized to manage the following zones as Free Trade and Industrial Zones in accordance with legal requirements and this law.

A. Kish Island Free Zone, as the attached map.

B. Qeshm Free Zone with a maximum area of ​​three hundred square kilometers, in the northeastern side of the island within the limits to be determined by the Council of Ministers.

C. Chabahar Free Zone, as the attached map.

Note 1- Free Zones will enjoy the facilities and privileges subject to this law.

Note 2- Establishment of new Zones and the determination of their boundaries will be based on the proposal made by the Government and the approval of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (the Parliament).

Article 2- The income of the Free Zone Organizations shall be spent only within the framework of the annual budget approved by the Council of Ministers. The Organization's assistance for development and growth of other areas (with priority given to neighboring areas) is possible only with the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers, and any other assistance will be considered as illegal seizure of public property.

Part Two - Definitions

Article 3- In this law, the following words are used instead of detailed related phrases.

  • Country: Country of the Islamic Republic of Iran
  • Zone: Free Trade-Industrial Zone
  • Organization: The Organization of any Free Trade-Industrial Zone
  • ‌Majlis" Parliament": Islamic Consultative Assembly

Part Three - Tasks

Article 4 - Responsibility of the Cabinet of Ministers:

A- Approval of by-laws and coordinating all the activities of each Zone.

B- Approval of the articles of association of the Organization and its subsidiaries.

C- Approval of development and cultural programs, annual budget and performance of financial statements of the Zones’ Organizations.

‌D- Approval of security and law enforcement regulations of the Zones with the approval of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

E- Exercising high supervision over the activities of the Zones.

Article 5 - Each Zone is governed by an organization formed as a company with an independent legal personality and their capital is owned by the Government. Those companies and their affiliated companies are excluded from the laws and regulations governing State-owned companies and other general Government regulations, and they shall be governed, exclusively, by this law and related articles of association; and for cases not provided for in this law and articles of association, they will be subject to the Commerce Law.

Article 6- The Organization shall be managed by a Board of Directors, composed of three or five people. The members of the board shall be elected by the Cabinet of Ministers. The CEO of the Organization, who will chair the Board of Directors, is appointed by the Presidential decree, from amongst the members of the Board of Directors and is the highest executive official in the economic and infrastructural fields of the Zone. Appointment of the CEO and the members of the Board of Directors is for a period of three years and they may be re-appointed. ‌ Dismissal of the managing director and members of the Board of Directors is with the same appointing authorities. The Council of Ministers carries the responsibility and authority of the general assemblies of the Organization of each Zone.

Article 7 - The Organization of each Zone is authorized, with the approval of the Council of Ministers, to establish the necessary companies, which are set up in accordance with the rules of the Commerce Law.

Part Four - General Regulations

Article 8- The Organization and its affiliated companies are authorized to conclude the necessary contracts with local and foreign natural and legal persons and to participate with domestic and foreign investors, in accordance with the Articles of the Constitution, in carrying out development and production projects. Disputes and differences arising from concluded contracts shall be settled and resolved in accordance with the agreements and contractual obligations of the two parties.

Article 9- To provide facilities and services within each Zone, Ministries, organizations, institutions and Governmental and Government-affiliated companies may conclude the necessary contracts with the Organization or its affiliated companies within the limits of the decisions of the Cabinet of Ministers. The terms of such contracts will be such as to maintain the competitive position of the Zone against the Free Zones of other countries.

Article 10 - The Organization of each Zone may collect fees from the natural and legal persons residing in the Zone, in return for rendering urban services and providing transportation, health, cultural affairs, educational and welfare facilities.

Article 11 - Issuance of licenses for any kind of authorized economic activity, setting up of buildings and facilities and holding of various jobs by natural and legal persons, ‌ in the case of jobs that do not have a direct manager, within the Zone, only rests with the Organization.

Article 12 - The regulations related to manpower employment, insurance and social security and the issuance of visas for foreign nationals shall be in accordance with the by-laws to be approved by the Council of Ministers.

Article 13 – The Natural and legal persons engaged in various economic activities in the Zone shall be exempt from paying income and asset tax subject to the direct tax law for fifteen years, from the date of operation stated in the license, for any type of economic activity in the Free zone. After expiration of the fifteen years, they shall be subject to tax regulations, which will be approved by the Islamic Consultative Assembly upon the proposal made by the Cabinet of Ministers.

Article 14 - Trade exchanges of Zones with foreign countries, are excluded from the scope of export and import regulations after customs registration, and the regulations on export and import of goods and customs formalities, within each Zone, shall be approved by the Cabinet of Ministers. The trade exchanges of the Zones, both passenger and commercial, with other parts of the country are subject to the general regulations governing the Country's export and import.

Article 15 - Imports of goods produced in the Free Zone to other parts of the country, to the extent of added value in that zone, are exempted from paying all or part of customs duties and commercial profits upon the approval of the Council of Ministers.

Article 16 - The importation of goods in which all or part of its raw materials are supplied from within the country and produced in the Free zone, shall be exempted from all or part (proportionately) of the customs duties and the commercial profits related to domestic raw materials.

Article 17- Goods transported from inside the country to the Zones, for use and consumption in the Zone, are considered as internal transportation of the country, but their export from the Zones will be subject to the general regulations of exportation and importation.

Article 18 - The executive by-laws on monetary and banking operations and transactions in the Zones shall be prepared by the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran, within three months after the approval of this law, with the aim of maintaining the Zone's competitive facilities against Free Zones of other countries; and it shall be approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

Article 19 - The Organization may implement infrastructural and production projects, within its approved program and budget, to provide and guarantee credit from internal and external sources, with the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers. Repayment of these credits shall be done only from the income of the Organization.

Article 20 - The entry and exit of capital and profits derived from economic activities in each Zone shall be free. The necessary regulations for attracting and supporting investment in each Zone and the manner and the extent of participation of foreigners in the activities of each Zone shall be approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

Article 21 - The Organization of each Zone may, with the approval of the Council of Ministers and from its own assets or through concluding contracts with banks, credit institutions and insurance companies, may take action, in relevant contracts, to guarantee foreign investments against damages resulting from expropriation and nationalization, to the extent of the obligations contained in the contracts.

Article 22 - The registration of companies and industrial and intellectual properties, as well as the registration of ships, vessels and aircrafts in each Zone, shall be carried out by the Organization of the Zone, in observance of Article 81 of the Constitution and in accordance with the rules approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

Article 23 - The Organization may establish representation offices in the Zones, if necessary.

Article 24 - The manner of utilizing the land and national resources and the order of selling or renting them to the citizens of the country, within each Zone, owned by the Government, shall be determined in accordance with the regulations approved by the Cabinet of Ministers, and in abidance by the development plans of each Zone. The Organization of each Zone shall be responsible for enforcing the relevant regulations.

Note 1 - Leasing land to foreign nationals is authorized and its sale is strictly prohibited.

Note 2 - The Iranian inhabitants of the islands subject to the Free Zones, enjoy all the property rights of the land and buildings, as in other parts of the country. The Real Estate Registry is obliged to issue a title deed under the name of individuals in accordance with the rules and regulations.

Article 25 - Heads and directors of the Organization of each Zone, CEOs and members of the Board of Directors of subsidiary companies, all Ministers and heads of Government organizations, heads of the Judiciary and the Supreme Court and the Court of Administrative Justice, the Attorney General, the head of the General Inspectorate and their deputies and advisers and Members of the Parliament, governors, mayors and their deputies and their first-degree relatives are not allowed to hold shares in companies established by the Organization of each Zone, nor in the private companies operating in the Zones.

Article 26 - The executive by-laws of this law shall be approved by the Cabinet of Ministers. The above law, consisting of twenty-six Articles and four Notes, was adopted by the Islamic Consultative Assembly (the Parliament) in its session on Sunday, August 29, 1993, and was approved by the Guardian Council on September 12, 1993.

 

Article 27- (Appendant 1996/11/12) - In order to create coordination in the activities of free zones, as the case may be, with the approval of the relevant minister, one of the following two methods will be used:

A- The executive bodies (affiliated to the executive branch) delegate their powers in the region to the chairman of the board of directors and the managing director of the free zone organizations.

B- The managers, heads and supervisors of the executive bodies located in the free zones are appointed upon the proposal of the chairman of the board of directors and the managing director of the organization and by the decree of the highest official of the executive body.

Article 28 - (Appendant 1999/07/21 ) the establishment and activity of iranian insurance agencies with internal and external capital and their branches and agency and Insurance brokerage firms in free trade - industrial zones of the islamic republic of iran is permitted and is merely subject to regulations which will be approved by iranian central insurance .

Note (Appendant 2009/07/29 Islamic Consultative Assembly and 2010/03/06 of the expediency Discernment Council) the decree will also include branches and representation of foreign ministers and Insurance brokerage firms.

Article 29 (Appendant 2009/07/29 Islamic Consultative Assembly and 2010/03/06 of the expediency Discernment Council)-Establishment and operation of stock exchanges with domestic and foreign capital in free zones is in accordance with the authorized regulations and is subject to this letter, which will be approved by the Council of Ministers within six months from the date of approval of this law upon the proposal of the Supreme Council of Stock Exchange and Securities.

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