IMM Revision: Entering and Depositing International Mail Items

Effective June 1, 2009, the Postal Service™ is revising Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM®) section 123.5 to clarify the proper places mailers may deposit international mail items. We are also deleting section 123.8.

These revisions will clarify for our employees and cus­tomers that an item prepared and mailed online must con­tain an electronic round stamp on the customs declaration before the customer deposits the item in a Postal Service collection box or has it picked up via Pickup on Demand® service or Carrier Pickup™ service.

Also, we have added to 123.5 the online customs forms requirement that was previously listed in 123.8, which is deleted.

Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM)

1 International Mail Services

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120 Preparation for Mailing

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123 Customs Forms and Online Shipping Labels

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123.5 Place of Mailing

[Revise the text to read as follows (expanding and clarifying the places of mailing for items requiring a customs form):]

Except as specified in items a and b, a mailer may not deposit a postal item that requires a completed customs declaration form into a collection box, lobby drop, Auto­mated Postal Center® (APC®) drop, postal lobby, postal dock, or other unattended location. In addition, items that require a customs declaration are precluded from pickup service as defined in 213.3, 222.23, and 234.6. Mailers must present such items to a Postal Service employee at a Post Office™ facility or other location as designated by the postmaster. The Postal Service will return improperly pre­sented items to the sender for proper entry and accep­tance. Exceptions are as follows:

a. Express Mail International® shipments paid through an Express Mail corporate account (EMCA).

b. Express Mail International and Priority Mail Interna­tional™ items that have the mailing label, customs declaration (including an electronic round stamp), and postage prepared and paid online through Click-N-Ship® service on usps.com, through the eBay/PayPal integrated shipping solution, or through an authorized PC Postage® vendor website.

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[Delete 123.8 in its entirety.]

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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.