Effective July 1, 2009, the Postal Service™ revised Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM®) sections 123.6, 123.7, 232.4, 244.5, 264.3, and 276 to comply with Article RL 152.5 of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) Letter Post Regulations. Under that provision, all small packet items must bear customs declaration CN 22 (PS Form 2976, Customs Declaration CN 22 — Sender’s Declaration (green label)) or CN 23 (PS Form 2976-A, Customs Declaration and Dispatch Note — CP 72), depending on value and regardless of whether the items are ordinarily subject to customs control in the destination country. Small packets are Letter Post items that are not letters, cards, or flats, and that typically contain merchandise or other goods.
In terms of Postal Service products, the small packet category includes package-size First-Class Mail International™ items and the Priority Mail® small flat-rate box, as well as certain Priority Mail flat-rate envelopes meeting specific physical characteristics. We clarify that all such items, regardless of contents or value, must bear PS Form 2976. Previously, Postal Service standards required a customs declaration only for package-size First-Class Mail International items containing potentially dutiable contents.
This change also applies to “known mailers,” as defined in IMM 123.62, who send documents weighing 16 ounces or more. With these revisions, only mailpieces that meet the physical characteristic of a letter or flat may qualify — small packet items must bear PS Form 2976.
For customer convenience, this change allows the Priority Mail flat-rate envelopes that contain only nondutiable document contents weighing less than 16 ounces and that are flat-size (no more than 3/4 inch thick, and with uniform thickness) to be mailed without PS Form 2976. However, a customs declaration is still required for First-Class Mail International items and Priority Mail flat-rate envelopes with nondutiable contents if those items weigh 16 ounces or more.
As a further result of Article RL152 of the UPU Letter Post Regulation, which stipulates that customs declarations must be affixed to the outside of the mailpiece, and consistent with Postal Service aviation security guidelines, we no longer allow the mailer to place a PS Form 2976 on the outside of a package and insert the required PS Form 2976-A within the package.
We also clarify that packaging must be large enough to accommodate the applicable customs form(s), postage, and any applicable markings and extra service labels on the address side of the item to be mailed, and that items requiring an export license must always use PS Form 2976–A. As a result of these requirements, and consistent with UPU Articles RC 120 and 121, we clarify in Exhibit 123.61 that PS Form 2976-A (which is a parcel customs declaration) may not be used on Letter Post items, which include First-Class Mail International items, the Priority Mail International flat-rate envelope and small flat-rate box, International Priority Airmail™ (IPA®) items, and International Surface Air Lift® (ISAL®) items. Consequently, certain items that previously were mailable in one of the aforementioned Letter Post categories are now required to be mailed via a different category of mail. Specifically, these include First-Class Mail International items over $400 in value, or any item requiring an export license.
We have incorporated these revisions into the July 1, 2009, monthly update of the online IMM, which is available via Postal Explorer® at http://pe.usps.com, and we will incorporate these revisions into the next printed version of the IMM.
— Mailing Standards,
Pricing, 7-2-09
