Effective March 15, 2007, we are revising section 707.3.3.10 of Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) to permit incidental, but limited, graphics in the return address area of a label carrier used to carry the delivery address for a mailpiece. In addition, we are expanding the standards for text on the front of a label carrier to allow it to reference material on the reverse of the label carrier or within the contents of the host Periodicals publication.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM)
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700 Special Standards
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707 Periodicals
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3.0 Physical Characteristics and Content Eligibility
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3.3 Permissible Mailpiece Components
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3.3.10 Label Carrier
A label carrier may be used to carry the delivery address for the mailpiece and must consist of a single unfolded, uncreased sheet of card or paper stock, securely affixed to the cover of the publication or large enough so that it does not rotate inside the wrapper, subject to these conditions:
[Revise items a and d as follows:]
a. The label carrier must include the following elements:
1. The title of the Periodicals publication or the name and address of the publisher. Mailers may also include incidental graphics of the host Periodicals publication, other Periodicals publications of the publisher, or Periodicals publications of one or more affiliates or subsidiaries of the publisher (or any combination thereof), provided that all of the publications are under common 100% ownership. If such graphics are used they are treated as advertising, and mailers must use an area no larger than 3 inches by 5 inches to show the title of the Periodicals publication or the name and address of the publisher and the graphic or graphics.
2. The Periodicals imprint “Periodicals Postage Paid at...” or the word “Periodicals” in the upper right corner of the address side (unless “Periodicals” is printed on the address side of the polybag).
3. The address to which the mailpiece can be returned if undeliverable, if endorsed “Address Service Requested.”
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d. Other printed information, whether advertising or nonadvertising, is permitted only on the back of the label carrier and is subject to measurement and postage payment accordingly. Incidental text calling attention to information on the reverse, or to information within the contents of the Periodicals publication, may be placed on the front of the label carrier. If any information referred to on the reverse of the label carrier or within the contents of the Periodicals publication is advertising, the incidental text on the front also is treated as advertising.
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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
