Shipping, Transportation and Receiving

GlobalHAND

We are pleased to announce our affiliation with GlobalHand and their Freight and Logistics Database. This organization has an extensive Database identifying organizations handle shipping services for humanitarian aid projects. GlobalHAND sources are indexed by various categories. There is also an extensive check list regarding shipping and receiving goods.

Humanitarian Aid Shipping: What You Need to Know

All commodities transported from one country into another are subject to national and international trade laws, rules, regulations, prohibitions, and procedures. Before embarking on a project to ship goods into another country, you must first be aware of and address the following:

1. Tax/Duty Exemption

   The objective is for your donated goods to be received without duty; otherwise the endeavor may be cost-prohibitive. Duty exemption is predicated on:

   • The receiving country’s humanitarian aid import policy
   • Those goods/commodities that qualify under that policy
   • Those organizations that are recognized to receive exemption from tax/duty

   For a variety of reasons, several countries do not encourage the importation of humanitarian aid while others work in a spirit of cooperation with charities. The majority fall somewhere between cooperation and resistance. Donors must be aware that:

   1. Duty Exemption/Customs Clearing should be addressed by the consignee (receiving organization). The Duty Exemption is granted by the receiving country’s government for a specific in-country entity that is registered and eligible to receive a duty waiver. More specifically, Duty Exemption/Customs Clearing is between the recipient and their government. (The exception is when the consignee is the receiving country’s government, in which case all customs clearing is handled by government representatives.
   2. In most developing countries, only certain registered charities, public institutions (hospitals, schools, orphanages, etc.) and churches are qualified to apply for and receive duty exemption. Rotary Clubs are not necessarily recognized and/or eligible to receive the duty exemption. In many cases, the shipments must be consigned to the receiving entity directly (hospital, school, orphanage, etc.) in order to receive the duty waiver.

      HANDS Partnership Advisor may be able to identify an organization that has this exemption for the country you are shipping to.

   3. While we can see some consistency in the experience of receiving relief goods among Rotary Clubs and other charities in some countries, we more frequently find that the experience varies from project to project as well as among receiving organizations. Some Rotary Clubs and charities have no problems with customs clearing, while others may struggle. As duty exemption and customs clearing is an issue between the recipient and its government, it is critical that the recipient have the organizational capabilities to identify and address all issues relating to the importation of donated cargo. The consignee must be knowledgeable about all of their country's regulations regarding the importation of humanitarian aid and must make the donor aware of any and all procedural requirements including documentation and any prohibitions of certain commodities (such as used clothing, food, pharmaceuticals, technology related equipment, religious materials, books, etc.).
   4. If your consignee is not experienced with importing humanitarian aid, they should contact a customs broker or customs agent to determine all necessary requirements. Additionally, as the importation of humanitarian aid duty-free may have unique requisites in a particular country, it is a good idea for your consignee to contact another local charity that has experience with custom clearing to learn of any other procedural requirements or restrictions.

   In summary, it is important to recognize that international humanitarian aid shipments are consignee-driven, NOT donor-driven. That is to say, it matters very little who is shipping the goods, what matters is who is receiving the goods and whether or not they are eligible and capable of clearing customs duty free.

   Start your project by identifying not only who you want to receive your donated goods, but also, more importantly who (what organization) is capable of facilitating customs clearing and coordinating distribution. It is a good idea to provide your recipient with a list of items you wish to send. This will allow them the opportunity to determine if all items are appropriate and if they will qualify for duty exemption as well as begin the process of addressing all the necessary steps that will need to be taken in order to receive your gifts. Some countries do require pre-approval from all applicable agencies (Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Humanitarian Assistance, etc.) before shipping.

   Donors should be aware that while the work involved in orchestrating an international shipment is considerable, the work in the receiving country is just as, if not more, intensive and recipients are working under very stringent conditions with very limited resources. Furthermore, with all the resources that are required to facilitate a relief shipment, including time, energy and money, make absolutely certain that your donations are of high quality and appropriate for use by the recipient.

   In the event that even after all precautions have been taken, problems are still encountered when the shipment enters the country, Rotary UN Representative Don Treimann can be contacted to see if assistance can be provided from the subject countries UN office. See Country Requirements section of this web site for additional information.

2. Avoiding Costly Mistakes

   Donors often have the mistaken belief that just because the cargo is donated and for humanitarian purposes, that it is exempted from the same processing requirements as commercial cargo. Whether humanitarian or commercial, every item moving from one country into another must be documented and accounted for.

   As stated above, duty/tax exemption is granted only to certain registered agencies and only for certain commodities. If all procedural requirements have not been addressed, containers will not be processed. They will be placed in a storage yard where daily charges begin accruing. Additionally, the steamship-line (who owns the containers) will begin charging demurrage. Within a very short period of time hundreds and thousands of dollars are owed and the shipper of the container is held accountable for these charges.

3. Preparing to Ship

   1. Method of Shipping

      Surface transportation is more practical and economical than air transportation. Air transportation is typically reserved for smaller, lightweight cargos such as medicines or items for disaster response.

      It is most economical to ship full sea containers. Less-than-container (LCL) loads require more handling and therefore are more expensive. Additionally, funding is more readily available for full sea containers. If you are considering making an international humanitarian shipment, unless you are shipping a single piece of highly sophisticated medical equipment, or expensive pharmaceuticals, we do not recommend sending LCL cargo. Make the most out of your time, the recipient's time, available goods and dollars and commit to shipping at least a 20-foot container and preferably a 40-foot container. (Note: 20 foot sea containers measure approx. 20' x 8' x 8'; 40 foot sea containers measure approx. 40' x 8' x 8').

   2. Staging

      You'll want to stage your cargo at a warehouse that gives you room to properly sort, repair, inventory, pack and palletize your donations. A warehouse with access to a loading dock is also preferable as containers are brought to the load point on a truck chassis, approximately 5 feet off the ground. If you are not loading from a loading dock, then you must make provisions for a forklift to raise your cargo from ground level up to the deck of the container.

      Please keep in mind; all provisions for loading must be made by you. The freight company does not provide labor or loading equipment.

   3. Inventory

      A detailed inventory of everything you are shipping is required by your consignee to facilitate customs clearing. Unsatisfactory, incomplete, and/or inaccurate packing lists will create delays in customs clearing, which can result in additional costs for which you, as the shipper, will be held responsible. Your packing list should include a description, weight per piece (unit, pallet, box, barrel, etc.) as well as total weight for the entire cargo.

There are numerous participants in any given cargo move, from the local trucker, to the rail company to the steamship-line. International freight forwarders are the professionals who arrange shipping provisions from origin to destination. If you would like an idea of the cost of shipping your cargo, contact an international freight forwarder.

Transportation Sources

Donors need to understand that there is no "free shipping" only shipping that may be discounted or paid for by another entity. The transportation industry is inundated with requests from the humanitarian community for free service. While a trucking company or steamship line may donate services from time to time, they simply cannot afford to accommodate all relief cargos without charge. There are programs sponsored by the U.S. Government, however, donors frequently find these to be limited, restrictive and not conducive to their project needs.

There are some charities that may partner with a Rotary Club on a given project where a mutual interests exists, however, shipping funds are a scarce resource to all relief groups and these partnerships are typically forged on an individual, project-by-project basis.

The following are organizations that may be able to assist with transportation needs:

1. Paxton International, Inc., Contact: John Connolly - Paxton is a commercial venture, but they have been highly successful in identifying shipping problems before they start and solving problems that exist. They come highly recommended by several Rotarians.
2. Rotaship, Contact: Dennis Klainberg - Rotaship is a project of the District 7250< USA, NY. Their goal is to develop a network of Airport and Seaport based Rotary Clubs and Rotarians who are engaged in the shipping industry to support Rotary Clubs worldwide.

Funding Resources

See the Funding Resources section of this web site for an extensive list of resources available to help fund humanitarian aid projects. The two listed below have extensive involvement in helping fund transportation expenses:

1. The Rotary Foundation (TRF)

   Donors can obtain shipping estimates from international freight forwarders and can then decide to use Club or District funds or apply for a grant from The Rotary Foundation. A Humanitarian Aid Transportation Fund (HATF) was established by TRF, however having exhausted funds available, this grant program has been suspended until replenished in the coming Rotary year. As an interim measure, Rotary Clubs can apply for humanitarian aid transportation funding under New Opportunities Grants. For more information on these grants go to Important News about Humanitarian Grants at the Rotary International Web Site.

2. Universal Heart, Inc.

   Universal Heart is a non-profit, humanitarian corporation whose mission is to assist charitable groups in orchestrating relief shipments and obtaining support funding to pay transportation costs wherever possible. By working with a group of charities with interests in developing countries, well over 150 sea containers were sponsored on behalf of Rotary during the year 2001. For more information contact: Jessica Settle