United States Postal Service Supplying Principles

General Overview of United States Postal Service Supplying Principles

Background

The United States Postal Service® was established by the Postal Reorganization Act (PRA), Public Law (P.L.) 91-375 (codified at Title 39 of the United States Code [U.S.C.]) as an independent establishment within the executive branch whose purpose it is to bind the nation through the personal, educational, literary, and business correspondence of the American people. The Postal Service™ operates from its own revenues in providing its public service. Since it was established, it has faced rapidly increasing competition from both technology and businesses targeting market niches within the postal product line. Consequently, The Postal Service’s ability to provide efficient, economical service is driven by market forces.

The Postal Service acquires property and services in accordance with the PRA and all other applicable laws enacted by Congress. The Postal Service has promulgated regulations governing the acquisition of goods and services at 39 CFR Part 601. The public should reference both the PRA and the regulations for guidance regarding the Postal Service’s purchasing regulations. These Supplying Principles and the accompanying Supplying Practices are not binding regulations of the Postal Service. The public should be guided by and may rely upon the Postal Service regulations referenced above and the terms of specific solicitations⁄requests for proposals (RFPs) rather than the SPs and Ps, which are intended for internal use only to assist the Postal Service in obtaining best value and efficiently conducting its supply chain functions. These SPs and Ps are advisory and illustrative of approaches that may generally be used by Postal Service employees, but are intended to provide for flexibility and discretion in their application to specific business situations. Consistent with that intent, these SPs and Ps create no rights, substantive or procedural, enforceable against the Postal Service.