Effective January 4, 2010, the Postal Service™ is revising Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM®) in various parts of the Individual Country Listings (ICLs) for Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Mongolia, Philippines, Russia, Sudan, and Uzbekistan. These changes are made and adopted at the request of these individual countries at the 24th Congress of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) held in Geneva, Switzerland, from July 23–August 12, 2008, or at previous Congresses as demonstrated by the Final Protocol to the UPU Convention.
a. Consistent with Final Protocol Articles VII and VIII, Iran does not accept letters or parcels containing articles contrary to the principles of the Islamic religion. Consequently, in the Prohibitions section, we are modifying the second prohibition to read as follows: “Books, newspapers, printed matter, writing, records, pictures, emblems and any other articles of a seditious or immoral nature or contrary to the principles of the Islamic religion or accepted customs.”
b. Consistent with adopted Proposal 23.8.4 and 23.9.3, Kazakhstan will no longer accept Registered Mail™ items, ordinary parcels, or insured parcels containing coins, banknotes, credit notes or any securities payable to bearer, checks, precious metals (whether manufactured or not), precious stones, jewels and other valuable articles, and foreign currency. Kazakhstan will not accept liability in cases of loss or damage to such items if they are accepted. Consequently, in the Prohibitions section, we are adding a prohibition to read as follows: “Coins, banknotes, credit notes or any securities payable to bearer, checks, precious metals (whether manufactured or not), precious stones, jewels and other valuable articles, and foreign currency are prohibited. Kazakhstan will accept no liability for loss of or damage to such items.” In addition, in the Restrictions section, we are deleting the restriction that reads as follows: “Coins, banknotes, letters of credit or securities payable to bearer, checks, precious metals (whether manufactured or not), precious stones, jewels, or other valuable articles may be mailed only as insured Priority Mail International parcels.”
c. Consistent with adopted Proposal 23.4.1, Kazakhstan limits the maximum weight of inward and outward M-bags to 20 kilograms. Consequently, in the First-Class Mail International section, we are revising the weight limit for airmail M-bags to 44 pounds (reduced from 66 pounds).
d. Consistent with adopted Proposal 23.8.3, Kyrgyzstan no longer accepts ordinary, registered letter-post items containing coins, currency notes or securities of any kind payable to bearer, travelers checks, platinum, gold, or silver (whether manufactured or not), precious stones, jewels, or other valuable articles. Kyrgyzstan will not accept liability in cases of loss or damage to such items if they are accepted. Consequently, in the Restrictions section, we are adding the following restriction: “Coins; currency notes or securities of any kind payable to bearer; traveler’s checks; platinum, gold, or silver (whether manufactured or not); precious stones; jewels; or other valuable articles may be mailed only as insured Priority Mail International parcels. Kyrgyzstan will not accept liability in cases of loss or damage to such items if they are accepted.”
e. In Final Protocol Article VIII, Lebanon identifies the prohibited items that it will not accept. Consequently, in the Prohibitions section, we are adding the following entry: “Liquids, easily liquefiable elements, and glass or similarly fragile articles.”
f. In Final Protocol Article VIII, Mongolia identifies the prohibited items that it may not accept in parcels. Consequently, in the Prohibitions section, we are adding the following entry: “Coins, bank notes, securities payable to bearer, and traveler’s checks.”
g. In Final Protocol Articles VII and VIII, the Philippines identifies the prohibited items that it will not accept in letters and in parcels. Consequently, in the Prohibitions section, we are deleting the following entry: “Coins; banknotes; currency notes; traveler’s checks; or securities of any kind payable to bearer in ordinary mail. Such articles are only permissible in Registered Mail.” In addition, also in the Prohibitions section, we are adding the following two entries:
1. “Coins; currency notes or securities of any kind payable to bearer; traveler’s checks; platinum, gold, or silver (whether manufactured or not); precious stones; or other valuable articles.”
2. “Liquids, easily liquefiable items, and glass or similarly fragile articles.”
h. Consistent with adopted Proposals 23.8.5 and 23.9.2, Russia no longer accepts registered items or ordinary or insured parcels containing bank notes in circulation, securities of any kind payable to bearer, or foreign currency, and it accepts no liability in cases of loss or damage to such items. Consequently, in the Restrictions section, we are adding the following entry: “Bank notes in circulation, securities of any kind payable to bearer, or foreign currency may be mailed only as insured Priority Mail International parcels. Russia will not accept liability in cases of loss or damage to such items if they are accepted.”
i. In Final Protocol Article VIII, Sudan identifies the prohibited items that it will not accept. Consequently, in the Prohibitions section, we are adding the following entry: “Liquids, easily liquefiable items, and glass or similarly fragile articles.”
j. Consistent with adopted Proposal 23.9.2, Uzbekistan no longer accepts ordinary or insured parcels containing bank notes in circulation, securities of any kind payable to bearer, or foreign currency, and it accepts no liability in cases of loss or damage to such items. Consequently, in the Prohibitions section, we are modifying the first prohibition to read as follows: Coins, bank notes in circulation, checks, postage stamps, currency, securities of any kind payable to bearer, or foreign currency. Uzbekistan will not accept liability in cases of loss or damage to such items if they are accepted.
k. Consistent with adopted Proposal 23.4.1, Uzbekistan limits the maximum weight of inward and outward M-bags to 20 kilograms. Consequently, in the First-Class Mail International section, we are revising the weight limit for airmail M-bags to 44 pounds (reduced from 66 pounds).
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.
— Mailing Standards, Pricing, 9-10-09
