States must facilitate relief flights. No procedure says how.
ICAO rules require states to facilitate the entry, departure and transit of relief flights operated by or for the UN, and to clear their personnel and cargo without delay. What the rules do not contain is any procedure, authority or deadline for issuing a permit.
So we do not assume priority, we ask for it early. And where the load includes dangerous goods needing an exemption, five states have to agree rather than two, which is why that is the first item we start.
