It was envisioned by Congressman Pablo Roman, Sr., a representative from Bataan, who authored Republic Act 5490 designating the said location as the first free trade zone in the Philippines.

Prior to the creation of BEPZ, the area where the freeport zone is currently located was formerly part of barangay Camaya and barrio of NASSCO (National Shipyard and Steel Corporation) under the jurisdiction of municipality of Mariveles.

World War II gave Bataan its place in humanity's darkest history and made this war-torn fishing village one of two starting points to a brutal, long march that saw thousands of Filipino soldiers and hundreds of their American counterparts killed.

The war changed the tempo of life in Mariveles, relegating it to an economy of subsistence, where farmers heavily depended on the yield of the land and catch from the sea for their existence.

When President Marcos declared the establishment of BEPZ in Mariveles in order to hasten the hope for an industrialized Philippines, NASSCO inhabitants were requested to move out from the zone where they had been living for over 20 years and transfer to other parts of the municipality but they were not given proper places nearby and they received no compensation.

On June 21, 1969, Congressman Pablo Roman, Sr. authored Republic Act 5490 designating Mariveles, Bataan as the first free trade zone in the Philippines.

In early 1972, three congressmen — Roman, Roces, and Sarmiento - sponsored the bill to convert the free trade zone authority into government corporation.

This would grant the power of a corporation combined with the coercive strength of the Philippine Government to move the project ahead, especially regarding the relocation of residents.

It also helps to address the government's efforts of creating 2 million jobs per year to be able to neutralize the rate of unemployment in the country.

This Act converted BEZ into FAB, and created AFAB which started to partially operate and manage the zone in conjunction with PEZA from October 2009 to June 29, 2010.

is printed on signboards posted in various parts of Bataan, referring to the preparation for the turnover of the zone's full operations and management from PEZA to AFAB.

[7][8] On June 29, 2010, one day before the end of the administration of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her successor Benigno Aquino III became President of the Philippines, PEZA fully turned over the zone's operations and management to AFAB at 1:25 pm which completed all of PEZA's remaining programs and plans resulting in the abolishment of BEPZ/BEZ the following day at the end of Arroyo administration and Aquino III became president in June 30, AFAB's first whole day of fully operating and managing the zone and working of the zone's employees as FAB workers.

On August 30, 2019, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act 11453, amending the provisions of RA 9728, and further strengthening the powers and functions of AFAB, enabling the freeport to expand its operation anywhere within the province of Bataan.

It also has aquatic resources like round scads, grouper, mussel, and abalone; mineral deposits of granite and basalt and forest products like vines and bamboo.

The freeport area originally covers 2 barangays of Mariveles namely Barangays Maligaya (Pizarro) and Malaya (Quadro), with the latter hosts the freeport's parish church named Our Lady of the Fatima Chaplaincy which is under the Roman Catholic Diocese of Balanga (part of the Ecclesiastical Province of San Fernando, Pampanga), however since August 2019 after the enactment of R.A. No.

11453, FAB is given the power to include the remaining areas of Mariveles and further expand to any area inside Bataan excluding the Hermosa and Morong portions of Subic Special Economic and Freeport Zone, another freeport zone located within the province and under the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), as defined by R.A. No.

Six (6) of these expansion areas are located in Mariveles, while eleven are scattered in the towns of Bagac, Dinalupihan, Hermosa, Orani, Abucay, Pilar, and Limay, and in the City of Balanga.