Delays in the delivery of printed matter (particularly between continents) due to postal delays and administrative delays in processing requests, are such that periods from 2 to 6 months may lapse between initiation of the request and receipt of the publication.
Examples of such delays occur in the delivery of documents of international organizations (such as the United Nations) to distant countries, resulting in the receipt of documents after the events for which they could be relevant. Even between Europe and North America, books may take up to 6 months to arrive.