Peachtree City's industrial park area could become Georgia's fourth Foreign Trade Zone if the plans of the city's development authority are approved by federal agencies.

More than a year ago, the authority began working with the Georgia Foreign Trade Zone Inc., comprising primarily Atlanta companies, to grant FTZ status to Peachtree City companies seeking those advantages.

Now the authority is making application to become an FTZ "grantee," a Washington-approved entity able to grant local companies the designation created to improve economies and keep jobs in the United States.

Jim Cromwell, executive director of foreign trade zone operations in PTC, explains that an FTZ status allows a company to defer duties on products, actually paying on saleable products rather than an entire shipment, which may contain unusable elements which must be shipped back overseas. Companies outside an actual geographic area may become "subzones" to GFTZ or to the Peachtree City FTZ once approved, he said.

"For instance," he says, "an aircraft engine manufacturing company in Columbus, Ga., is a 'subzone' for GFTZ Inc. They import titanium to manufacture aircraft engine parts, and that carries a 15-percent duty they wouldn't have to pay if their company were located outside the U.S. The Foreign Trade Zone status entitles a company to the same benefits enjoyed by foreign companies, so that jobs can stay in this country. That Columbus company contributes heavily to the local economy; if moved out of the country, about 725 jobs would be lost."

Besides GFTZ Inc., Cromwell said, only Savannah and Brunswick have their own FTZ "grantee" status. Application is under way with the U.S. Department of Commerce to allow the Peachtree City Development Authority to become a "grantee."

Though there is no formal agreement with GFTZ Inc., said chairman Tom Farr, "I think it would be safe to say there will be some opposition to this plan." He said the authority would take its cues on how to respond to the opposition "once we see what form it takes."

Tate Godfrey, the authority's liaison member for the zone, said the authority "is grateful for the support and expertise we've received from GFTZ, and we thank them for that.

"It's just that we feel the need for self-direction, and for what Washington refers to as the 'convenience of commerce' we would be better off independent," he added.

Cromwell said that he understands that many large cities support more than one Foreign Trade Zone, and that the Atlanta area certainly qualifies to do that. At present, the "zone" would comprise companies within a 2,474-acre industrial area on the west side of the city, but "boundaries" could be extended to include other Fayette companies requesting FTZ status if necessary.

"There are areas within those 2,474 acres that will never be used, such as wetlands, and yet are a part of the zone. If a Fayetteville company, or one anywhere else in Georgia, requested to become a subzone, we could 'remove' that unusable acreage from the local zone for designation in another place. Actually, the FTZ is like an imaginary island offshore, giving U.S. companies foreign trade advantages, but not actually something you can specifically define or touch," Cromwell said.

The development authority, working with GFTZ Inc., has been entitled to receive user fees from companies who participate, Cromwell added. But 66 percent of those fees have gone to GFTZ, "and we felt the fees paid them are inequitable for the services rendered," he said.