274 FOREIGN TRADE ZONES 
for export, that is, for reexportation of materials which have been 
imported in the raw state and which, after being manipulated and 
worked, are exported in the finished or semifinished state. The 
industrial plants in the new port of Venice at present do not reexport 
their output, that is, to any considerable extent. They produce 
almost wholly for domestic consumption, which reduces the impor- 
tance of free-port facilities to them. 
Free port advantageous to ports having transit traffic.—Venice has 
little port traffic which might be considered truly in transit, and this 
is another reason why free-port facilities are not regarded as being so 
vital to the interests of the port. As compared with Venice, the port 
of Trieste has more transit traffic and this has a direct bearing on 
the question of free-port facilities. 
Several years ago Trieste was to have been declared a free port 
and plans were made for the granting of that privilege to that port, 
but Venice protested and maintained that in case that Trieste be made 
a free port, Venice insisted that it be also granted like privileges, as the 
interests of the two ports were too close to permit of any possible 
advantage to one which might affect the traffic of the other. Soon 
thereafter the matter was dropped and neither port received free-port 
privileges at that time. 
The export traffic of Venice is very small, having been about 220,400 
metric tons in the calendar year 1927, and of this, little would have 
been affected by the existence of the free port, had there been one in 
existence, but with a rearrangement of the industry of the port of 
Venice and a delineation of the free-port zone, with its rigid customs 
barrier to separate it from the port proper, the export traffic might 
assume another aspect, that is, it might grow somewhat provided 
that the burden of customs duties be not replaced by taxes or other 
charges which would vitiate the profits or advantages from the privi- 
leges granted by the free port. 
Free-port zone as tentatively outlined. —The representatives of Venice 
at the national free-port conferences at Rome have already drafted 
a tentative plan of delimitation of the free-port zone for the port of 
Venice, and it is roughly made to include all the “stazione marittima’ 
(old port of Venice) in Venice proper east of the dock known as the 
Scomenzera, which would include most of the present port of Venice, 
as well as part of the Giudecca, which would include part of the large 
flour mill there (Molino Stucky). This would embrace the cotton 
mill in the port of Venice and the cold storage plant (Societd Importa- 
zione Carni), as well as the grain elevator of the Societa Sylos. Before 
the plan could be adopted and executed, extensive customs barriers 
would have to be put up to outline the limits of the free-port zone. 
This would require some months, even after the adoption of the 
planned zone and the regulations in regard thereto.