U.N. Says Customs Tax Halts Kosovo Aid

UNITED NATIONS — The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said Tuesday that a customs duty imposed by the government of Macedonia is blocking aid to Kosovo and that supplies are not reaching people badly needing help.

“The fee, which was announced in mid-July by the [Macedonian] government, has brought UNHCR’s aid pipeline to a standstill and is contributing to a backup of supplies,” a U.N. spokesman said.

The agency said that because of the $349 customs inspection fee on all goods moving through Macedonia, 86 trucks loaded with supplies were waiting in a parking lot in Skopje, the capital, along with 17 rail cars carrying timber to repair homes.

Before the fee, the agency sent as many as 25 trucks a day across the border into Kosovo, the separatist Yugoslav province on whose behalf the North Atlantic Treaty Organization fought an 11-week air war over Yugoslavia.