Contents

Postal Bulletin 22168a - New Rates and Fees Effective January 8, 2006

Mail Acceptance

Summary of Changes - Domestic Mail

Postage Statements

Domestic Postage Statements

Notice 123, RATEFOLD

Summary of Changes - International Mail

International Rate and Fee Charts

Field Implementation Kit

New Rates and Fees Effective January 8, 2006

The Governors of the U.S. Postal Service® accepted the Postal Rate Commission's recommendation to increase most postal rates and fees by approximately 5.4 percent. The Board of Governors set 12:01 A.M. Sunday, January 8, 2006, as the effective date for the new rates and fees.

This price increase - the first since 2002 - is needed to fulfill a federal law passed in 2003 that requires the Postal ServiceTM to place $3.1 billion in an escrow account by October 1, 2006. Without this federal mandate, it would not have been necessary to raise prices in 2006. Among the adjustments, the single-piece rate for First-Class Mail® increases from $0.37 to $0.39, and the postcard rate increases by $0.01 to $0.24.

In addition to the new domestic rates and fees, we are changing international postage rates and fees at the same time.

This special issue of the Postal Bulletin contains information about the rate change, including resources for customers and employees, new rate and fee tables, and revised postage statements. Customers and employees can find additional information at www.usps.com/ratecase.

We will incorporate all of the new rates and fees into Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) and the International Mail Manual (IMM) available on Postal Explorer® (http://pe.usps.com) on January 8, 2006. We will also update the domestic, international, and business Postage Rate Calculators.

- Mailing Standards,
Pricing and Classification, 12-1-05