Emergency supply chain: lead times, warehousing capacity and customs clearance

File submitted on D0 (letter available around D+21): shelter kits: port D+21, letter available, clearance 3 days, transport 2 days: D+26. International kitchen kits: port D+28, clearance D+31, D+33. Hygiene kits: D+10 + 2 = D+12. Jerrycans: D+7 + 2 = D+9. Local kitchen kits: D+12 + 2 = D+14.

File submitted on D+5 (letter around D+26): the shelter kits wait at the port for the letter until D+26, clearance D+29, arrival D+31, after the start of the first wave; the kitchen kits still arrive on D+33. Each day of delay on the file feeds directly into the shelter kits.

Critical path: the exemption file, then the imported items. The file must be submitted on D0, complete (packing lists, pro forma invoices, agreement with the ministry).

Kitchen kits: wave 1 (2,000 households on D+30) cannot be served with imported kitchen kits. Recommended option: 2,500 local kits (D+14) for wave 1 and part of wave 2, and 1,500 imported kits (D+33) for the rest. Cost: 2,500 × 34 + 1,500 × 26 = 85,000 + 39,000 = USD 124,000, against USD 104,000 if all imported, i.e. an additional cost of USD 20,000 (2,500 × 8), justified by meeting the schedule; the quality of the local kits must also be checked against the specifications. Purchases follow the organisation's emergency procedure, with written justification of any waiver.

Total cost of the plan: 288,000 (shelter) + 192,000 (hygiene) + 124,000 (kitchen) + 48,000 (jerrycans) = USD 652,000, excluding transport and clearance.

Volume: shelter 6,000 × 0.06 = 360 m³; hygiene 300 m³; kitchen 4,000 × 0.04 = 160 m³; jerrycans 12,000 × 0.012 = 144 m³; total 964 m³. Weight: 108 + 72 + 32 + 7.2 = 219.2 t.

Capacity: warehouse 450 × 0.65 × 2 = 585 m³; mobile unit 240 × 0.65 × 2 = 312 m³; combined 897 m³, still less than 964 m³. It is therefore impossible to store everything at the same time.

Trucks: by weight, 219.2 / 10 = 22 trucks; by volume, 964 / 40 = 24.1, i.e. 25 trucks: volume is the limiting factor. Containers: shelter kits 360 / 60 = 6; imported kitchen kits (1,500 × 0.04 = 60 m³): 1 container, i.e. 7 containers with the chosen plan (9 if everything is imported: 6 + 160 / 60 rounded up to 3).

Solution: staggered receipts aligned with the waves. One wave of 2,000 households represents about 321 m³ (964 / 3). Local items are delivered in instalments (wave 1 then wave 2) instead of in one go; the maximum stock thus remains below 585 m³, and the mobile unit serves as a buffer for the shelter kits arriving in bulk (360 m³) and for contingencies. Part of the goods can also be delivered directly from the trucks to the distribution points (cross-docking) if security allows. Insurance, security, protection against rain and a stock card per item must be planned.

Demurrage: with the chosen plan, 7 containers × 10 days × 150 = USD 10,500 (9 containers if everything is imported: USD 13,500). Duties without exemption: 25% of the imported value: shelter kits 288,000 + imported kitchen kits 39,000 = USD 327,000, i.e. USD 81,750. Paying duties is therefore far more costly than a few days of demurrage.

Measures: submission of the complete file on D0 and daily follow-up with the ministry; support from the logistics cluster or humanitarian coordination, which often follow exemption procedures; review of the documents by the freight forwarder before shipment; delaying shipment from the regional warehouse by a few days if the letter is late, so that arrival falls within the free time; negotiation of extended free time with the shipping line; contingency budget; additional local purchase if the letter is blocked.

Nature: this is a facilitation payment, that is, a bribe intended to obtain from a public official a service to which the organisation is entitled. The proposal to invoice it as "file processing fees" adds a false accounting entry. The fact that "all organisations do it" changes nothing.

Risks: breach of the organisation's anti-corruption policy and of donor agreements, ineligible costs, possible prosecution under the anti-corruption laws applicable to the organisation and its donors, damage to reputation and to relations with the authorities, a precedent that exposes all future operations.

Written reply: "Thank you for your message. Our organisation makes no payments other than official fees, in cash or in any other form, and cannot accept invoicing that does not correspond to a real service. We ask you to follow the official procedure and to send us the status of the file every week. We remind you that our contract contains an anti-corruption clause."

Follow-up: report to the anti-fraud focal point or the country director, with a copy of the message; review of the freight forwarder's past invoices; assessment of whether to keep the contract and recording of the incident in the supplier database; information to the logistics coordination (without public accusation); acceleration through legitimate channels (question 3).

"NFI supply, 6,000 households, estimated cost USD 652,000. (1) Local items (hygiene, jerrycans, 2,500 kitchen kits) available in Les Cayes between D+9 and D+14. (2) Imported items: shelter kits on D+26 if the exemption file is submitted today, imported kitchen kits on D+33; wave 1 will be complete thanks to the local kitchen kits (additional cost of USD 20,000). (3) Storage: 964 m³ for 897 m³ of capacity with the mobile unit; receipts will be staggered by wave. (4) Customs risk: USD 10,500 of demurrage for 10 days of delay, USD 81,750 if we lost the exemption. (5) A request for a facilitation payment was refused and reported. Decisions requested: approve the local purchase of 2,500 kitchen kits and the additional cost, approve the hire of the mobile unit, mandate the country director to support the exemption file with the ministry."