Alas, this article is not about the state of the South African economy; if it was, it would have been titled a ‘national disaster’. Instead, it focuses on the customs treatment of natural disasters. On September 12, the World Customs Organisation (WCO), the intergovernmental organisation headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, released a statement on the recent natural disasters impacting on its members.

A ‘national disaster’ is defined as a catastrophe, mishap, calamity or grave occurrence in any area arising from natural or human-made causes, an accident or negligence and results in substantial loss of life or human suffering or damage to, and destruction of, property, or damage to, or degradation of, the environment, and is of such a nature or magnitude as to be beyond the coping capacity of the community of the affected area.

According to the WCO, as the first line of defence at the borders, Customs agencies play a pivotal role, particularly during natural disasters, in ensuring that high volumes of life-saving supplies and equipment reach the affected communities timely. These essential goods are critical not only for the survival of the affected population but also to equip rescue workers and humanitarian aid providers.

The WCO goes on to state that supporting its members in a comprehensive and agile manner has always been a top priority for it, and this becomes even more crucial in the event of disasters. Customs administrations have access to various instruments and tools that can enhance the effectiveness of their emergency responses. These resources are designed to streamline border procedures and facilitate the cross- border movement of relief consignments efficiently and legitimately.

The WCO ‘Natural Disaster Relief’ webpage – www.wcoomd.org/en/topics/facilitation/activities-and-programmes/natural-disaster.aspx – serves as a valuable resource to assist Customs administrations in swiftly identifying, accessing and reviewing several instruments and guidance materials relevant to this area of work. These include Chapter 5 of Specific Annex J of the Revised Kyoto Convention; the Resolution of the Customs Co-operation Council on the Role of Customs in Natural Disaster Relief; and the WCO Guidelines on Disaster Management and Supply Chain Continuity. There are also the Recommendation of the Customs Cooperation Council to Expedite the Forwarding of Relief Consignments in the Event of Disasters; the Convention on Temporary Admission, Istanbul; the Istanbul Convention Handbook; the Key Principles of the SAFE Framework of Standards for Further Facilitating Clearing Relief Consignments; the Customs commitment highlighted at the World Humanitarian Summit, Istanbul, Turkey, 2016; and the Secretariat Note on the Role of Customs in Humanitarian Crises.

The WCO instruments and tools prescribe that the clearance of relief consignments for export, transit, temporary admission and import shall be carried out as a matter of priority, as well as specify the facilitation measures that Customs agencies should implement for relief consignments. The facilitation measures include the lodging of a simplified goods declaration or of a provisional or incomplete goods declaration subject to completion of the declaration within a specified period; the lodging and registering or checking of the goods declaration and supporting documents prior to the arrival of the goods, and their release upon arrival; clearance outside the designated hours of business or away from Customs offices and the waiver of any charges in this respect; and examination and/or sampling of goods only in exceptional circumstances. Further, clearance of relief consignments should be granted without regard to the country of origin, the country from which they arrived or the country of destination.

The June 2011 Council resolution invites its members to manage borders in an efficient, simplified and coordinated manner, including the sharing of information with the other national authorities involved in the handling of relief items, while using existing clearance systems in order to provide for the rapid, efficient and centralised processing of these consignments.

For its part, South Africa has the Disaster Management Act of 2002, which provides for, among other things, an integrated and coordinated disaster management policy that focuses on preventing or reducing the risk of disasters, mitigating the severity of disasters, emergency preparedness, rapid and effective response to disasters and post-disaster recovery and rehabilitation, and the establishment and functioning of national, provincial and municipal disaster management centres.