Effective January 27, 2013, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM®) sections 122.1 and 122.2 to stipulate that the addressee’s full legal name — defined for international mailing purposes as the addressee’s first name, middle initial (if applicable), and last name — and complete address must appear on international mailpieces.
Having the full legal name and complete address information enables the Postal Service and other federal agencies to ensure mailers’ compliance with federal export requirements.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM)
1 International Mail Services
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120 Preparation for Mailing
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122 Addressing
122.1 Destination Address
[Insert the following introductory text and revise items “c” and “d” to read as follows:]
International destination addresses must comply with the standards in this section.
Note: In items c, d, and i, the term “full legal name” means the name that corresponds to the addressee’s government-issued identification — i.e., the addressee’s first name, middle initial (if applicable), and last name.
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c. The addressee’s full legal name (see Note above) and complete address must appear legibly with roman letters and Arabic numerals, all placed lengthwise on one side of the item. For parcels, addresses should also appear on a separate slip enclosed in the parcel.
d. Addresses in Russian, Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, Cyrillic, Japanese, or Chinese characters must bear an interline translation in English of the addressee’s full legal name (see Note above) and complete address (including country). If the English translation is not known, the foreign language words must appear in roman characters (either printed or script). See 292.41 and 293.41 for an optional addressing procedure that applies only to direct country sacks of International Priority Airmail (IPA) or International Surface Air Lift (ISAL) mail, respectively.
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[Delete item “f,” redesignate items “g” through “k” as “f” through “j,” and revise newly renumbered item “i” to read as follows:]
i. The address of items sent to general delivery must indicate the addressee’s full legal name (see Note above) and the city and country of destination. The use of just initials, simple given names, fictitious names, or figures is not permitted on articles addressed for general delivery.
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122.2 Return Address
[Revise 122.2 in its entirety to read as follows:]
122.21 General
The return address tells the U.S. Postal Service or foreign post where to return a mailpiece that cannot be delivered. Due to heightened security concerns, the U.S. Postal Service recommends a complete return address on all mailpieces — see 122.23 for when a return address is required. A mailpiece may include only one return address, and the mailer must place it so that it does not affect either the clarity of the address of destination or the application of service labels and notations (postmarks, etc.).
122.22 Elements of a Return Address
A complete return address must include the sender’s full legal name (see the Note in 122.1) and complete return address in roman letters and arabic numerals — it may not include just initials except where they are an adopted trade name.
122.23 Required Use of Return Address
In bulk mailings, all mailpieces must bear a U.S.-origin return address visible on the outside of the mailpiece. For the purpose of this section, a “bulk mailing” is any IPA or ISAL mailing, or any other mailing paid with an advance deposit account and presented to the U.S. Postal Service for acceptance. In addition, a return address is required for mailpieces bearing a customs form under 123.7.
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We will incorporate these revisions into the next update of the online IMM, which is available via Postal Explorer® at http://pe.usps.com.
— Product Classification,
Pricing, 11-29-12
