248 FOREIGN TRADE ZONES

materials for export manufacture without payment of duty. Upon
application to the collector of customs, an import permit is issued
to such manufacturers and the territory covered by their industries is
considered in a sense a part of the free port.
The present status of Leghorn as a free port is of little importance
as compared to that achieved by it during the reign of the Medicis
in the eighteenth century. After that period the commerce of the
port steadily decreased at the expense of the commerce of the harbor
proper and it was not until 1883 that an endeavor was made to revive
the activities of Leghorn as a free port.
Description.—The free port is located near the entrance of the
harbor between the Medician port and the Coppellini Basin. (See
hydrographic chart of the port of Leghorn, published by the U.
S. Hydrographic Office on April 8, 1925, No. 4027.) The area
of the free port is 108,114 square feet, of which 65,542 square feet is
devoted to warehouses. There are two wharfs attached to the port
with a berthing space of 1,048 linear feet. The warehouses are three
in number with a floor space of 65,542 square feet and a capacity of
1,134,815 cubic feet. The silos above alluded to which were installed
 in May, 1924, are equipped with 53 cells and have a capacity
of 546,343 cubic feet. They may accommodate approximately
12,000 tons of grain. They are utilized in the course of public commerce,
 administration of them being given over to officials of the
free port.
Administration.—The free port is operated and controlled by
the Leghorn commune under the supervision of an officer appointed
by the mayor. About 20 guards are maintained and it is stated
that the annual cost of administration amounts to 100,000 lire.
Operations permitted in free zone.—All ordinary operations of commerce
 are permitted in the free zone, with the exception that inflammable
 materials and Government monopoly goods are not admissible,
and also that medicinal products are only admissible upon presentalion
 of a permit issued by the customs authorities.
Dispatch secured in unloading vessels —It is stated that the unloading
 of vessels in the free zone is carried out as expeditiously as iB
the customs zone of the port of Leghorn, or in any other customs zoné
of Italy as far as is known.
Reconsignment trade—The principal commodities of reconsig?”
ment consist of colonial goods, such as coffee, tea, sugar, spice
tamarind, etc., and oils (olive oil and mineral oil). It is estimated
that the turnover of reconsignment goods amounts to approximately
25 per cent of the total trade handled. The bulk of colonial goods
are transshipped from other ports of Italy, although comparativels
small amounts are received by direct import from the Italian colonie®
South America, and the East Indies.