[The beginning section of this article was published in Postal Bulletin 22247, 12-4-08, on page 7, but it did not include the actual revision text, which is included in this article.]
Effective January 1, 2009, the Postal Service™ is revising the following sections in Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM®) to reflect a change in the conversion rate between special drawing right (SDR) values and U.S. dollars, and to reflect changes to the indemnity limits for ordinary Priority Mail International™ parcels and Registered Mail™ items (which are affected by the SDR values):
Postal Service retail employees use this information, and the limits listed in exhibit 234.4, when a customer presents an ordinary parcel for mailing. Postal Service retail employees use section 324.12 and exhibit 324.12 when a customer presents an insured parcel for mailing, subject to availability in the destination country. For insured parcels, employees must write the insured amount, stated in terms of both dollars and SDR values, in the designated blocks on PS Form 2976-A, Customs Declaration and Dispatch Note — CP 72.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM)
* * * * *
2 Conditions for Mailing
* * * * *
230 Priority Mail International
* * * * *
234 Priority Mail International Parcels
* * * * *
234.4 Ordinary Priority Mail International Weight and Indemnity Limits
* * * * *
Exhibit 234.4
Ordinary Priority Mail International Weight and Indemnity Limits
[Revise Exhibit 234.4 to read as follows:]
* * * * *
3 Extra Services
* * * * *
320 Insurance
* * * * *
324 Processing Requests
324.1 Mailing Receipt and Insurance Number
* * * * *
324.12 Accepting Clerk’s Responsibility
The accepting clerk must:
* * * * *
[Revise item b at the end so that the example reads as follows (reflecting the new SDR rate):]
b. ***For example:
INSURED VALUE
$100 (US)
62.59 SDR
[Revise item c to read as follows:]
c. See Exhibit 324.12 for a table showing the conversion of U.S. dollar values up to $600 to SDR equivalents. To determine SDR equivalents above $600, multiply the insured amount, rounded up to the next full dollar, by the conversion factor of 0.6259.
Note: Use the following rates when converting between U.S. dollars and SDR values:
1 U.S. $ = 0.6259 SDR
1 SDR = $1.60 ($1.5978 U.S.)
* * * * *
Exhibit 324.12
Conversion Table: U.S. Dollars to Special Drawing Right (SDR)
[Revise Exhibit 324.12 to read as follows:]
* * * * *
330 Registered Mail
* * * * *
333 Fees and Indemnity Limits
* * * * *
333.2 Indemnity Limit
[Revise 333.2 to read as follows (reflecting a change in the indemnity limit to $47.93):]
Regardless of the declared value of a registered item, the maximum amount of indemnity payable for loss, damage, or rifling is $47.93.
* * * * *
9 Inquiries, Indemnities, and Refunds
* * * * *
930 Indemnity Payments
* * * * *
934 Payments for Registered Mail
* * * * *
934.2 Special Provisions
[Revise 934.2 to read as follows (reflecting a change in the indemnity limit to $47.93):]
Regardless of the declared value of a registered item, the maximum amount of indemnity payable for loss, damage, or rifling is $47.93.
* * * * *
Individual Country Listings
* * * * *
[For every country that offers Registered Mail service in the “Extra Services” section, revise the maximum indemnity limit to $47.93, to read as follows in the generic example:]
Extra Services
* * * * *
Registered Mail (330) Fee: $10.80
Maximum Indemnity: $47.93
* * * * *
We will incorporate these revisions into the next printed version of the IMM and into the monthly update of the online IMM, which is available via Postal Explorer® at http://pe.usps.com.
— Global Business Management,
Global Business, 12-18-08
