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WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service was recently recognized by the Universal Postal Union (UPU) and the Express Mail Service (EMS) Cooperative Network, which operates within the framework of the UPU, with awards for excellence in international call center service and delivery performance—2011 EMS Customer Care Award, large group category and 2011 EMS Performance Award, silver level category. Postal operators in the EMS Cooperative Network submitted ballots earlier in the year to vote for 2011 EMS Customer Care Award winners.

“One of the Postal Service’s core strategies is to improve customer service," said Maura Robinson, vice president, Consumer and Industry Affairs. "Delivering a positive customer experience with every interaction is essential and we appreciate the efforts of the Customer Call Center team. We are proud to receive peer recognition of our inbound and outbound EMS inquiry, claims research and resolution systems, which are important to the Postal Service’s commitment to our customers, members of the Universal Postal Union and the EMS Cooperative Network."

The Postal Service was one of fifteen candidates competing for the award within the large group category, which included postal operators in Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Russian Federation, Singapore, Thailand and Turkey.

For the 2011 EMS Performance Award, delivery performance is measured, reviewed and confirmed by an independent third-party auditor. EMS Cooperative Network members achieving the highest delivery performance are recorded in the EMS Hall of Fame.

"The Postal Service is proud to receive global recognition for excellence in call center customer service and delivery performance," said Giselle Valera, managing director and vice president, Global Business. "We look forward to joining the EMS Hall of Fame and we pledge to continue working to improve our customers' global shipping experiences."

The Postal Service also won the 2010 EMS Performance Award, silver level, and the 2009 EMS Performance Award, bronze level.

USPS participates in the International Post Corporation’s Environmental Measurement and Monitoring System, the global postal industry’s program to reduce its carbon footprint 20 percent by 2020 based on an FY 2008 baseline.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

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A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation — 151 million residences, businesses and Post Office™ Boxes. The Postal Service™ receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com®, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $65 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 35th in the 2011 Fortune 500. In 2011, Oxford Strategic Consulting ranked the U.S. Postal Service number one in overall service performance of the posts in the top 20 wealthiest nations in the world. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency for six years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.

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The Universal Postal Unionis a specialized agency of the United Nations and is an inter-governmental organization and the primary forum for cooperation between governments, Posts and other stakeholders of the worldwide postal sector. It works to maintain the universal network, establish the rules for international mail exchanges among its 191 members and improves the quality of service for customers.

The EMS Cooperative Networkwas created in 1998 within the framework of the UPU. Its main objective is to promote cooperation between members to allow them to provide customers with a high quality, competitive EMS service worldwide. It has a membership of more than 170 voluntary postal operators, covering more than 90 percent of global EMS traffic.