Anna Turley lobbied for Teesport, which is currently the UK’s third-biggest port and one of the ten largest in Western Europe, to be granted the status in a speech in the House of Commons earlier in January as part of a debate on the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Bill, a bill designed to create a new customs regime for the UK after it leaves the European Union.
“Teesport has strong structural advantages towards being favoured for Free Port status – a deep-water facility, providing lock-free access to the sea, with strong road and rail services,” the MP said in her speech.
“Teesport is versatile and adaptable. The facility handles 5,000 vessels and 40m tonnes of cargo a year.
“The port is integral to the Teesside manufacturing complex, incorporating chemicals, engineering, renewable energy and agritech.”
Ms Turley also said giving Teesside, the area in which Teesport is located, free port status could turn the area into “the gateway of the North, rebalancing the economy and making the region’s manufacturing base more competitive and attractive”.
“Conferring a free trade status on a UK port would place it administratively outside of customs territory,” she explained in her speech.
“It would mean goods can be imported, manufactured or reexported inside the Free Trade Zone without incurring domestic customs duties or taxes.”
The port is mostly associated with the handling of steel, engineering, manufacturing, retail and petrochemical products.