There are various reports of essential goods being delayed at customs (woohoo Brexit) because of the red tape now that we’re out of the EU. This is why it’s probably best to leave the distribution of goods and medicines to those organisations with the experience and logistics to do it quickly and securely and simply donate to them whatever cash you can.
For example:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-60619676
Brexit rules mean every item being transported through the EU from the UK has to be accounted for.
Fellow volunteer Debbie Stevenson said they initially had no idea how hard it would be to deal with the bureaucracy of transporting goods out of the UK.
"A bag with white t-shirts has to say '100 white t-shirts'. The code for that is different from a white sweatshirt," she said. "This is where you get tied up. It's not as easy as chucking it in the van and driving off."
[…..]
Staff at Mossgiel Organic Farm in Ayrshire quickly gathered donations, but after one lorry load of supplies was impounded in France they launched a petition calling on Boris Johnson to make it easier for donations to get through.
They wrote: "Due to Brexit laws, we are facing huge amounts of red tape - documents, codes etc that we just cannot wait days or weeks to organise."
The first lorry from Mossgiel farm finally arrived in Poland on Thursday after French officials offered a "massive amount of help" with the paperwork. Two more lorries were expected to cross the Channel on Friday.
Farmer Bryce Cunningham said it took 200 phone calls to work out how to get the donations across the English Channel.
"The red tape was horrendous," he said. "Initially I had just been asked to fill a couple a vans to meet a lorry in Glasgow on Sunday night.
"We're a farm with a few vans and a couple of sheds to store things."
Once word got out that they were collecting donations for a Polish charity, they were overwhelmed.
Mr Cunningham said: "When the lorry got to customs [in France] the paperwork wasn't right - we hadn't declared every single item. It is down to the last toothbrush."
