HAITI MOVES TO EXPEDITE HUMANITARIAN AID ENTRY

UNCLAS PORT AU PRINCE 001336

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/CAR JTILGHMAN, S/ES-O/CMS, S/CRS, INR/IAA
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR, OFDA
TREASURY FOR ERIN NEPHEW
SANTO DOMINGO FOR FCS GIMENEZ AND PORTORREAL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AEMR ASEC EAID ETRD PGOV PREL ECON HA
SUBJECT: HAITI MOVES TO EXPEDITE HUMANITARIAN AID ENTRY

Summary
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1. Under an emergency plan enacted September 15 following
devastation wrought by successive hurricanes, the Government of
Haiti (GOH) authorized measures to temporarily suspend certain
customs regulations and facilitate the entry of supplies intended
for victims of recent hurricanes. End summary.


2. Haiti's Customs Administration (under the purview of the Ministry
of Economy and Finance) and the Bureau of Civil Protection
(Direction de Protection Civile -DPC- a department within the
Ministry of the Interior) are empowered to suspend certain
administrative procedures to expedite customs processing of
humanitarian items imported to Haiti for a period of three months.
The DPC is the only office authorized to receive, clear and
coordinate distribution of the imported products. Any such package
or container should be shipped to the DPC.


3. If the imported product is nevertheless addressed to an
individual or institution other than the DPC, the bill of lading
should be endorsed payable to the ''Direction de Protection
Civile.'' The list of imported products should also be attached to
the endorsed bill of lading and sent to the Direction de
l'Inspection Fiscale (Bureau of Fiscal Inspection) at the Ministry
of Economy and Finance.


4. For items intended to help a specific family or group, the lists
of imported products and beneficiaries, as well as their respective
addresses, should be attached to the endorsed bill of lading and
sent to the Direction de l'Inspection Fiscale at the Ministry of
Economy and Finance.


5. For additional information on procedures to import items under
the emergency plan, the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the
Bureau of Civil Protection (Ministry of Interior) should be
contacted. Note contact information, which follows:

--Ministere de l'Economie et Finance (Ministry of Economy and
Finance)
Telephone: (509) 3676-0625/0645/0897
E-mail: mefcyclone@mefhaiti.gouvt.ht

--Direction de Protection Civile (Bureau of Civil Protection)
Telephone: (509) 2223-4491; 2222-8231; 3461-2228
E-mail: altajeanbaptiste@yahoo.com


6. Comment: Embassy has been informed that the international donor
sector lead for logistical coordination, the World Food Program
(WFP),recommends that organizations which desire information or
assistance in transporting relief supplies, after arrival, from
Port-au-Prince to affected areas of the country note the following
contacts :

--Logistical Cluster Coordinator
Jean Francois Milhaud
Telephone: (509) 3701-2340

--Logistics Cluster Officer
Baptiste Burgaud
Telephone: (509) 3701-2337

--Logistics Cluster Officer
Michel Tomaszek (World Health Organization)
Telephone: (509) 3816-9883

End comment.