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The ICRC's pricing policy for communication products

18-03-2009

In accordance with its mission statement, the ICRC is committed to promoting and strengthening humanitarian law and universal humanitarian principles. One way in which it does this is by making its resources as widely available, and inexpensive, as possible. However, because it is accountable to its donors, the ICRC has also to try to recover its production costs.

To ensure that its policy is fair and in keeping with its mission statement, the ICRC uses the Human Development Index (HDI) – as calculated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) – to price products that are not distributed free of charge. Customers from medium or high-HD countries (see list below) are invoiced for their orders. Their invoices will include the price of the product and its shipping costs. Customers from low-HD* countries are not invoiced, as long as their requests remain within certain limits. (For more information on the HDI, visit www.undp.org .) There is a sliding scale for bulk orders made by customers from medium and high-HD countries. Such customers also benefit from certain special arrangements. Several basic resources on international humanitarian law, and products providing general information about the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, are supplied to them free of charge; they are, however, billed postage for parcels weighing over 3 kg and those that are sent " priority " or " urgent " , or by courier.

To ensure the best use of its resources and the equitable distribution of its products, the ICRC limits the quantities in which it supplies publications free of charge:

Leaflets: 500 copies / Brochures: 200 copies / Books: 50 copies / Posters: 20 copies / DVDs: 10 copies

If you wish to order in quantities that exceed these limits, please contact the ICRC directly.

Furthermore, the ICRC gives a discount of 25 percent on the price of its publications to the following: the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, schools and universities, students, libraries, medical circles a nd the media. Special requests are considered on a case-by-case basis. Please note that discounts are not cumulative and that only the highest discount will apply.

Prices in this catalogue are given in Swiss francs (CHF) and weights in kilograms (kg) and grams (g). Please be aware that you are responsible for any customs duties incurred in connection with your order.

Some publications are also available free of charge on the ICRC's web site (www.icrc.org/eng/shop) in PDF format.

* The following countries will not be invoiced for their orders:

Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic (the), Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia (the), Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger (the), Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Timor-Leste, Togo, Uganda, Zambia Source: World Human Development Report 2008/2009, UNDP.

Sliding scale for bulk orders

Number of copies orderedDiscount
1-90
10-1910%
20-4915%
50-9920%
100-49925%
500-99930%
1.000-4.99940%
5.000-9.99950%
More than 9.99960%

 

* This pricing policy is subject to modification and the ICRC reserves the right to make alterations at any time.