The Port of Montevideo is the first Terminal in the Atlantic Coast of South America to operate under the “Free Port” regime, which grants several benefits representing operational, customs and taxes advantages for those companies operating in the port site.

Accordingly, the main port of the country has a customs site where different services can be provided logistically adding value to the goods, creating a Distribution Center for the region.

Investment Promotion and Protection Law No. 16,906, with its current regulatory decree 002/012. Foreign investment is treated by law the same way as national investment.

Law 17,574 – provides important incentives for companies that wish to establish themselves in them, exemptions and specific tax credits.- / Decree 524/055.

Law 19,784, Promotion and development of Industrial Parks and Scientific-Technological Parks.

“an industrial park is an urbanized land subdivided into plots, according to a general plan, equipped with roads, means of transportation and public services, which may or may not have built factories that sometimes have common services and facilities and sometimes do not, and which is intended for the use of an industrial community.”

This Code and other provisions that make up customs legislation will be applied throughout the territory of the Republic of Uruguay and in the enclaves granted in its favor.

Customs territory is understood to be the geographical area within which customs legislation is applicable.

Exclaves granted in favor of other countries or blocks of countries are not part of the customs territory.

This Code will be applied without prejudice to the international treaties that are in force on the date of their entry into force.

The global economy implies greater access to international markets, increasing the volume and complexity of commercial transactions, which also increases the possibilities of misunderstandings and/or large disputes between merchants.

The Incoterms 2020 rules on the use of commercial terms, issued by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), facilitate and simplify communications, reducing the risk of misunderstandings in commercial operations. 

The interior/useful measurements that appear in this table are estimates, depending on the different manufacturers and lines. The maximum weights allowed by containers are regulated in each country.

In 2011, Law No. 18,786 was approved, which regulates the regime applicable to Public-Private Participation Contracts, regulated by Decree No. 17/2012.

The customs warehouse is a place authorized by the competent authority, in which the merchandise enters and remains in a privately administered space, benefiting from a tax suspensive regime, for the purpose of a future customs operation.

Customs warehouses are very useful for the transit of merchandise, contributing to the formation of the regional logistics hub, even offering the possibility of adding value to them. Its permanence period within the warehouse is 24 months, which cannot be extended.

The Investment Promotion regime is framed in Law 16,906, in which the promotion and protection of investments made by national or foreign investors in the national territory is declared of national interest.

The Free Airport is a regime that grants important benefits and facilities to operations carried out on merchandise that transit through the Carrasco International Airport (Montevideo, Uruguay).

The benefits provided for in the law translate into operational, customs and tax advantages for those companies that carry out operations at the airport site.

The Uruguayan Free Zones are an unavoidable point of reference for any organization that intends to develop activities in the Southern Cone, because they present unmatched comparative advantages for carrying out industrial, commercial and service activities.

The promotion and development of Free Zones in order to promote investment, exports, employment and international economic integration have been declared of national interest according to Law 15, 921.