IFRC cites tariffs, customs delays and non-priority shipments as barriers to fast disaster relief

At the press briefing, Dylan Winder highlighted three operational roadblocks that routinely slow international relief: average import tariffs on essential humanitarian items around 17%, routine customs clearance taking about 11 days even in normal times, and large-scale disasters receiving up to 60% non-priority supplies.

"Some essential humanitarian relief relief items can face average import tariffs of around 17%... Routine customs clearance in many disaster prone regions take around 11 days even in normal times, and around 60% of supplies arriving at large scale disasters are non priority items that should not have been sent," Winder said. He argued that these barriers can delay humanitarian personnel, specialist equipment, and life-saving supplies when national capacity is overwhelmed.

Winder and Isabel Granger pointed to national good practices—such as Madagascar's customs-clearance guide and Fiji's disaster legislation—to show that procedures can be improved and that a treaty could codify predictable cross-border arrangements.