VZCZCXRO7254
PP RUEHQU
DE RUEHPU #1336 2631957
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 191957Z SEP 08
FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8876
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHDG/AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO PRIORITY 0772
RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUCOWCV/CCGDSEVEN MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY

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 
------- 
 
¶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.