Sri Lanka 'wheelchair tax' condemned by UK charity

News Desk, London
Wednesday, 04 January, 2012 12:06:24 AM

The head of a UK charity that sent a consignment of wheelchairs to Sri Lanka has condemned the decision to impose customs duties of over $8,000 (£5,180).

Peter Thompson, of the Yorkshire-based PhysioNet charity, said the shipment for Tamil war victims also took more than three months to clear customs.

The Sri Lankan authorities said the delay was because paperwork for the shipment was not properly completed.

They said all shipments arriving in Colombo are subject to duty payments.

But Mr Thompson said the $8,000 (1m Sri Lankan rupees) that had to be paid in customs duties and port storage fees was unacceptable.

He argued that the delay in clearing the shipment - which contained 322 wheelchairs and other mobility items for disabled Tamil war victims - meant that the bill had to be paid before it was allowed to be transported to the north of the country.

The shipment was sent by PhysioNet in conjunction with a Sri Lankan Tamil charity based in the UK and the Roman Catholic church; together they met all of the costs of getting the consignment to Sri Lanka.

"But problems arose in Colombo when it took three months to clear the docks," Mr Thompson told the BBC.

He said the Sri Lankan authorities appeared to put up obstacles every step of the way to prevent the shipment from being speedily delivered.

"Only following endless paperwork and the payment of $8,000 was the container released and allowed to be transported to the north of the country," he said.

The Sri Lankan government in May 2009 defeated Tamil Tigers rebels fighting for independence in the north and east of the country after a bitterly-fought war spanning two decades.

Mr Thompson said his charity hoped to send another shipment to Sri Lanka next year, "but only if there are some assurances that this unhappy experience will not be repeated".

A spokesman for the port authority in Colombo that handled the consignment said all imports - including those brought in for charitable purposes - are subject to import duties.

He said the delay in clearing the wheelchairs was because various government ministries had to give their permission before shipments to the north were allowed to go ahead.

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Comments

When shipping into Sri Lanka, only good marked 'old goods' that are second hand or appear to be second hand are able to be zero rated for duty. Anyone shipping to Sri Lanka should do their homework first on this, I have myself shipped containers of emergency aid and this has been the rule for well over a decade. The freight forwarders should have been consulted. The reason is the extensive informal economy there which a great deal of aid ends up being traded on, the point about duty being that this then is traded without tax which a poor country can ill afford. Despite the many misdemeanours of both the Sri Lankan government and Tamil rebel administration, foriegn organisations should respect the laws and taxes of Sri Lanka. In relation to the 3 month wait, this is not unusual, especially for shipments to the north, while I had emergency aid (shelters, medical equipment and water sanitation equip) going through customs someone had attempted to smuggle a helpicopter gunship in pieces to the rebels in an emergency aid shipment, and at that point all the rules were changed and regulations tightened. It is not enough to write this sensationalist article whilst not giving the reader the oppurtunity to understand that in this case, as rules were not followed, one cannot aportion blame to the government or customs, both of which are organisations that are not without shame, but nonetheless, govern in a very poor country, far from the comfortable surroundings of the church and the UK.

Michelle Brooks