Addressing challenges related to Customs controls in free zones

Trade has always been one of the manifestations of freedom and power. The idea of a “free port” can be traced back to 167 BC, when the Roman Senate made a decision to turn the then Roman island Delos into a free port. City-States in the early Middle Ages, such as Venice, operated in a way that could nowadays be defined as free ports or free zones. The cities of Hamburg and Bremen, being key players in the Hanseatic League in the North and Baltic seas in the 13th century were another manifestation of this phenomenon.