The new Free Trade Zone Regime, contained in Law 1004/2005 and regulated by the Decrees 383/2007 and 4051/2007 stipulates that Free Tarde Zones ere geographical areas defined within the national territory, for the development of Industrial goods and services or Commercial activities under a special tax, customs and foreign trade regime.

Furthermore, Free Trade Zones must serve the following purposes:

Be an instrument for job creation and attraction of new capital investments
Be a development center that promotes competitiveness in the regions where they are created
Develop highly productive and competitive industrial processs, within the parameters of security, transparency, technology, clean production and sound corporate practices
Promote economies of scale
Simplify procedures for the commercialization of goods and services to facilitate its tale

Under the new regulation, Free Trade Zones are conceived not only as a mechanism to attract new investments and create jobs, but as an incentive to develop highly productive and competitive industrial processes with a substantial technological innovation component.

Additionally, in the case of projects representing a high economic and social impact for the country, a new figure created, known as a Special Permanent Free Trade Zone.  Depending on their characteristics, these zones area required to implement a higher industrial reconversion or technological transfer or service component than the standard requirements applicable to the Permanent Free Trade Zones. At the time of evaluating the Master Development Plan, the Cross Sector Comission of Free Trade Zones will take into account the contribution offered by the project to the modernization and reconversion of the productive goods and services sectors, their ability to improve competitiveness, increase, diversify the supply and its contribution to scientific or technological research.