Interim Internal Purchasing Guidelines > Transmittal Letter

United States Postal Service® Interim Purchasing Guidelines

May 19, 2005

1. Explanation. The Postal Service's Interim Internal Purchasing Guidelines are published and maintained by Supply Management Infrastructure, Supply Management and designed to assist the Postal Service in obtaining best value and conducting its supply chain functions which is a key goal of the Postal Service Transformation Plan. They replace all issues of earlier Postal Service purchasing regulations contained in Issues 1 through 3 of the Postal Service Purchasing Manual and all purchasing directives prior to the Purchasing Manual. The regulations that now apply to Postal Service supply chain functions are contained in 39 CFR Part 601. The Postal Service is currently developing new Supplying Principles and Practices, and, when issued, they will replace these Interim Internal Purchasing Guidelines.

2. Material Transmitted. These Interim Internal Purchasing Guidelines contain several significant changes from Issue 3 of the Postal Service Purchasing Manual issued on December 31, 2003, and users are encouraged to consult the Summary of Changes which identifies general and specific changes.

3. Availability. These Interim Internal Purchasing Guidelines are published and available to all users on the World Wide Web at www.usps.com/business.

4. Issuance Date/Effective Date. These Interim Internal Purchasing Guidelines are being published May 19, 2005, and will be in effect and apply to all solicitations issued on and after that date. In some cases, a solicitation provision or contract clause may reference a previous purchasing directive. In such cases, the referenced directive will apply as provided in the provision or clause, but not otherwise.

Keith Strange
Vice President
Supply Management