DMM Revision: Periodicals — Endorsements, Supplements to Bound and Unbound Publications

In response to customer needs, effective May 31, 2012, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM^®) 707.3.3.5 to modify the marking standards for supplements to bound publications. Supplements pre­pared with bound publications that are enclosed in a com­plete wrapper, polybag, or envelope may be mailed without the endorsement “Supplement to…” followed either by the title of the publication, the name of the publisher, or by “Periodicals Publication.” This change will unify bound and unbound supplement endorsement requirements and sim­plify preparation of preprinted advertising in bound publi­cations.

Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM)

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700 Special Standards

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707 Periodicals

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3.0 Physical Characteristics and Content Eligibility

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3.3 Permissible Mailpiece Components

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3.3.5 Supplement

[Revise the introductory text of 3.3.5 as follows:]

A supplement is one or more pages (subject to 3.3.1) formed by one or more printed sheets that are not bound into a publication. A supplement may be devoted to a sin­gle topic and may contain material different from that in the host publication. A supplement may not be mailed at Peri­odicals prices by itself. The length and height of a supple­ment may not exceed those of the host publication except when the host publication and the supplement are con­tained in an envelope, polybag, or other complete wrapper or under 3.3d. Supplements are subject to these conditions as applicable:

[Delete current items a and b in their entirety, and add new items a through d as follows:]

a. If a supplement to a bound publication is formed of more than one sheet, all sheets making up the sup­plement must be bound together.

b. A bound publication mailed with one or more supple­ments must be enclosed in a wrapper.

c. A supplement to an unbound publication that is not prepared in a wrapper, polybag, or envelope must be combined with and inserted within the publication under 3.5.4.

d. A wrapper is not required when a loose addressed supplement is included within the same mailing as the host publication, bears a proper delivery address, contains at least 25% nonadvertising material, and includes on the front/cover page the endorsement “Periodicals Supplement to” followed by the exact ti­tle and issue date of the host publication. The exter­nal dimensions of such supplements may exceed those of the host publication provided they are of the same processing category as the host publication.

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We will incorporate these revisions into the next monthly update of the online DMM, which is available via Postal Explorer^® at http://pe.usps.com.

— Product Classification,
Pricing, 5-31-12