Effective March 15, 2007, the manager of the Pricing and Classification Service Center (PCSC) will issue the final agency decision on appeals of local Post Office™ decisions regarding material that must be entered as First-Class Mail®, rather than as Standard Mail® items.
On January 22, 2004, we revised the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) to transfer the authority for certain final agency decisions from the former rates and classification service centers (RCSCs) to the manager of Mailing Standards at USPS Headquarters. Specifically, the manager of Mailing Standards issued the final agency decision when a mailer appealed a classification or revenue deficiency decision by a local Post Office based on findings that mail entered or sought to be entered at Standard Mail rates was required, due to its contents, to be mailed at First-Class Mail rates. This transfer of authority directed all of these appeals to a single office to ensure consistent decisions, but it did not affect the authority of local Postal Service™ officials to issue classification rulings and revenue deficiencies or the authority of the former RCSCs to consider other types of appeals.
In 2005, we consolidated the RCSCs and their authority to issue appeal decisions into the PCSC in New York City. Any decision on an appeal of a local Post Office’s decision, on whether material must be entered as First-Class Mail rather than Standard Mail, is now issued by the manager of the PCSC, in the same manner as other final agency decisions on classification rulings and revenue deficiencies.
The revised standards in DMM 604 and 607 do not change mailer procedures. Mailers will continue to send appeals to the office that issued the decision, accompanied by a complete copy of the mailpiece in question, according to the standards and timeframes in the DMM. Postmasters who receive appeals under these procedures should direct them to manager of the PCSC.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM)
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600 Basic Standards for All Mailing Services
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604 Postage Payment Methods
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10.0 Revenue Deficiency
10.1 General
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10.1.2 Appeal of Ruling
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[Revise item b to remove the requirement to send certain appeals to the manager of Mailing Standards at USPS Headquarters, as follows:]
b. To the postmaster or manager, Business Mail Entry, for revenue deficiencies for postage. The postmaster or manager, Business Mail Entry, forwards the appeal to the PCSC manager, who issues the final agency.
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607 Mailer Compliance and Appeals of Classification Decisions
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2.0 Rulings on Mailing Standards
[Revise 2.1 and 2.2 to remove the requirement to send certain appeals to the manager of Mailing Standards at USPS Headquarters, as follows:]
2.1 Local Decision
A mailer who disagrees with a classification decision by a local post office whether on a pending or a proposed mailing, may send a written appeal to the postmaster within 30 days. The appeal is forwarded to the Pricing and Classification Service Center (PCSC). The PCSC issues the final agency decision. Only the PCSC manager may rule on an appeal or initial request for a ruling on an exception to a USPS standard in the DMM.
2.2 Expedited Oral Decision
A mailer who receives an adverse ruling from a post office, whether on a pending or a proposed mailing may ask the PCSC manager to provide an expedited oral decision on appeal. This request for an expedited appeal may be made by telephone. The PCSC manager will determine whether the appeal or individual questions in the appeal can be decided on an expedited basis and, if so, will advise the mailer of the determination and confirm it in writing.
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We will incorporate these revisions into the next printed version of the DMM and into the monthly update of the online DMM available via Postal Explorer® at http://pe.usps.com.
— Mailing Standards,
Pricing and Classification, 3-15-07
