Subzones were in operation as part of 69 projects. Activation occurred at 19 new subzones and 4 were deactivated. This brought the number of active subzones up to 136. In terms of value, over 75 percent of the shipments received at zones and subzones came from domestic suppliers. This favorable level of domestic sourcing by zone users, particularly those involved in manufacturing activity, has remained high over the past decade and has become the norm.
Auto assembly continues to be the predominant sector.
Over 90 percent of the activity in subzones measured in terms of the value of shipments received continues to involve assembly and manufacturing. The Board received and filed 44 formal applications during the year. These actions involve routine changes to zone projects such as boundary modifications and scope decisions. Some administrative cases involve requests for manufacturing authority under circumstances where there is a recent precedent or proposed activity that is for export only. During the year, over 2,700 firms used zones, an increase of 100 over last year.