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Pictured: The profile of an eagle's head adjoining the words United States Postal Service are the two elements that are combined to form the corporate signature.

Purchasing Manual

Issue 3 December 25, 2003

1. Explanation. This Purchasing Manual (PM) is published and maintained by Supply Management Infrastructure, Supply Management and contains the Postal Service's purchasing policy.

2. Material Transmitted. Issue 3 contains numerous new and significant changes in Postal Service purchasing policy and users are encouraged to consult the Summary of Changes which identifies general and specific policy changes. Issue 3 also contains all changes made to Issue 2 between January 31, 2002, and December 25, 2003.

3. Other Directives. Topics addressed in the PM may also be addressed in other purchasing-related directives such as Handbooks P-1, General Purchasing Concepts and Practices, P-2, Design and Construction Purchasing Practices, and PO-503, Mail Transportation Procurement Handbook. Should material in these handbooks or any other purchasing-related directive (pending their revision or replacement) conflict with material contained in the PM, the PM prevails.

4. Availability. The PM is published and available to all users on the World Wide Web at http://www.usps.com/business.

5. Issuance Date/Effective Date/Transition Period. Issue 3 is being issued on December 25, 2003. Pending the updating of purchasing support systems for consistency with the new policies contained in Issue 3, purchasing organizations may adopt the policies and procedures contained herein immediately, or may follow the policies and procedures contained in Issue 2. The end of this transition period will be announced in the Postal Bulletin. If a purchasing organization adopts Issue 3 policies and procedures for any category or categories of purchases, it must use those policies and procedures consistently for that category or categories, and not revert to previous policies and procedures. Contracting officers must ensure that solicitations and other purchasing documents make prospective offerors fully aware of the authority (Issue 3 or Issue 2, as revised through April 18, 2002) pursuant to which an individual purchase is made. Particular care must be taken that previous versions of provisions and clauses are not used in purchases made under the policies and procedures of Issue 3, and vice versa.

Signature of A. Keith Strange

Keith Strange
Vice President
Supply Management