SYRIA CRISIS. Guidelines for the Exportation of Humanitarian Goods - The NGO Pipeline to Iraq, through Turkey, from EU Countries

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1 SYRIA CRISIS Guidelines for the Exportation of Humanitarian Goods - The NGO Pipeline to Iraq, through Turkey, from EU Countries Produced for Welthungerhilfe by Franco Chemula & Ton van Zutphen HEAD OF TRANSPORT REGIONAL DIRECTOR GAZIANTEP TURKEY/SYRIA/IRAQ Franco.Chemula@welthungerhilfe.de ton.vanzutphen@welthungerhilfe.de In response to the humanitarian crisis that is on-going in Syria and Iraq, the Government of Turkey through the Department for Disaster and Emergency Management (AFAD), in collaboration with the Turkish Red Crescent and the Ministry of Trade and Customs, has put measures in place to manage and coordinate the movement of humanitarian aid into these countries/regions. The guidelines described in this document also apply to Turkey i.e. the importation and distribution of humanitarian aid to Syrians living in Turkey. The transit of humanitarian aid from 3rd countries (EU and countries other than Turkey) to Iraq is possible, the main challenge is the length of the queues at Habur border crossing which can delay entry into Iraq for days or weeks. The reason being all transit goods have to queue. No exceptions! Only humanitarian goods purchased or received in Turkey and facilitated by AFAD and/or the Turkish Red Crescent are exempted from queuing up. To avoid the delay at the border, humanitarian organizations and individuals can import the humanitarian supplies into Turkey using a registered NGO in Turkey (local or international). In this case Welthungerhilfe can be used as a conduit for this. In the case of humanitarian aid being received in Turkey and shipped to Iraq via a NGO registered in Turkey, the following general guidelines should be taken into account Procedure: a) Call or write to AFAD and Turkish Red Crescent (see page 5 for contact details) about the intention to import humanitarian goods specifying the nature of the goods - Medical, Food or Non Food Items (NFI) - as well as the country of origin. b) The organization or individuals sending the humanitarian goods should prepare invoice, packing list, waybill or TIR carnet or bill of lading (specifying which

2 customs office inside Turkey will be responsible for clearing the goods), freight manifest, and free gift certificate. c) The documents mentioned in (b) should be forwarded to the NGO office in Turkey responsible for importation (Humanitarian Organization). d) The NGO in Turkey must submit the importation request letter specifying the cargo waybill numbers or TIR carnet, number of parcels and the weight in kilograms to the Turkish Red Crescent, which in turn forwards this documentation to the responsible authorities asking for permission to import the goods as humanitarian aid. e) Upon the approval of importation by the Turkish Red Crescent, confirmation is given to send the cargo into Turkey. f) The importing organization, normally an NGO, arranges with the Turkish Red Crescent and AFAD for clearance of the cargo as specified in the Cargo documents at, for example, Gaziantep Customs Office or Mersin Port or Gaziantep Airport Customs Office. These three customs offices are preferred but others can also be used. g) In case of Medical items, officials from the Ministry of Health are invited to witness the customs clearing process and issue certification, a copy of which must be submitted together with the necessary documents at Habur border crossing (point of crossing into Iraq). h) After customs clearance at the customs offices mentioned in (f) the goods are loaded into a Turkish truck. Loading is done using the checklist to make sure the cargo arrived as stipulated in the accompanying documents (if there is any disparity, check with the handling company i.e. warehousing company). i) The Turkish truck is then sent to the planned crossing point on the Turkey/Iraq border, in this case Habur, where the shipment should be met by the Turkish Red Crescent and/or AFAD. It should be noted that the truck bringing the goods from the country of origin should avoid being used to reach the border crossing point because they can be expensive. A truck hired in Turkey should have the necessary documents (insurance, etc.) for entrance into Iraq. Not all trucks can enter Iraq and this should be confirmed with the truck supplier beforehand. 2. Documents needed It should be noted that the cargo is sent to a specified customs office (as in[f]) and the destination should be indicated on the cargo documents (as in [b]). The documents listed below are necessary to facilitate customs clearing in Turkey; 2

3 I. Air Way bill in case of air cargo, or TIR carnet in case of transportation by road, indicating expected date of arrival. II. A letter written by AFAD (a written message form) or any AFAD authorised personnel to allow importation of the goods. III. Transfer list (summary of items description, quantity and value) which must be sent to Turkish Red Crescent the day before clearing, indicating the border point intended to be used to cross the goods into Iraq. IV. Packing list as sent from the exporting agency or organization. V. Check list (for all the cargo to be cleared, internal document). The following should also be arranged: I. A truck (Turkish) to transport the supplies to Iraq corresponding in tonnage and volume of the cargo. II. Payment in Turkish currency - Turkish Lira - for storage costs (if a warehouse is used) with payments calculated at the current prevailing rates. III. Daily workers to load the cargo onto trucks (according to tonnage) currently charged at 50 Turkish Liras per person per day. IV. Heavy-duty tape (Duct tape) for resealing opened or broken boxes. 3. At the border Habur (crossing to Iraq) Documents needed at the border 1. Two copies of invoices (English preferred and German accepted). 2. Copy of the passport of the sender, in this case the transport and customs officer (from NGO). 3. Copies of transport vehicle certificate (Turkish) and driving licence of the driver. 4. For medical cargo, a copy of certification from the Ministry of Health i.e. the medical doctor who inspected them when clearing from the bonded warehouse. This is not necessary for local goods. 5. Welthungerhilfe authorised personnel and Welthungerhilfe (or any other registered local or INGO) stamp. 6. A letter of export authorization from AFAD or Turkish Red Crescent. 7. Trucks should have a HUMANITARIAN AID banner attached to the front when going to the Turkish/Iraqi border. Procedure at the border Habur (crossing to Iraq) AFAD and/or Turkish Red Crescent staff must be present at the border to facilitate crossing At the Iraqi border check, there should be someone from the Iraqi authorities there to facilitate the entry of the truck/s into Iraq. This person maybe from 3

4 the Governor s office in Dohuk, the Turkish Red Crescent in Iraq or any partner organisation that has the permission to import humanitarian aid into Iraq. 4. Sending Shipments Do s and Don ts DOS Always make sure you have a permission to export any Humanitarian goods to Turkey Always coordinate with AFAD or Turkish Red Crescent Have contact details of persons in Turkey who will be responsible for customs clearance Make sure that the documents explained above are all provided The final destination should be Turkey and a customs clearing office should be indicated Do not indicate a border point as a customs clearing point (the clearing point should be a customs office inside Turkey) Indicate on the invoices the market value in Euros of the goods you are sending even though you may have acquired them for free Always establish if the items you are sending are recognized as humanitarian supplies by the Turkish Authorities DONTS Never send supplies without getting confirmation from the importing organization or the Turkish Authorities Do not send shipments without knowing the organisation responsible for the customs clearing of the goods Do not send out the shipment with incomplete documents Never indicate Syria or Iraq as a final destination Never indicate a border crossing point as a final destination Do not indicate values that are not equivalent to the size of the shipment Do not send items before establishing that they are recognized in Turkey as humanitarian goods. 4

5 5. Contacts that may prove important during the process: ORGANIZATIO N LOCATION CONTACT PERSON TRCS Gaziantep (Regional Mr Suat Çıtlak office) (subject to change) TRC Kilis Border Mr RIZA (subject to change) AFAD Gaziantep (Regional Mr Ayhan office) Yıldırım NASCO Warehouse POSITION Regional Coordinator Head of Kilis border Customs clearing Gaziantep Airport Mr Çetin Aytaç Operations Manager AFAD Habur border - Silopi Abdulhamit Head of branch CONTACT DETAILS suatc@kizilay.org.tr / GZTCARGO.THY.COM IMPORTANT NOTE! Please always make sure that you obtained the necessary permission from the Turkish Authorities (AFAD) for the importation of cargos into Turkey before shipping. Some supplies are not recognized as humanitarian goods in Turkey. This list is subject to change. Check with Turkish Red Crescent if the supplies you plan to send are recognized as humanitarian goods. Please also note that these are guidelines only. These procedures may change without any prior notice. This document is aimed at providing a general guideline to organizations and individuals who plan to send humanitarian supplies to Iraq and is not an official customs or importation document. The processes described in this document do not apply for commercial shipments. 5