Effective January 4, 2010, the Postal Service™ is revising Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) 402.2.1, 423.1.2 and 423.1.3, 424.1.1, 425.2.2, and 507.11.1.5 to allow Priority Mail® commercial base and commercial plus prices for permit holders who use Priority Mail service for Merchandise Return Service (MRS) mailpieces.
For commercial base prices, permit holders must meet all current MRS requirements for Priority Mail as stated in DMM 507.11.
For commercial plus prices, Priority Mail account volumes must have exceeded 100,000 pieces in the previous calendar year or permit holders must have a customer commitment agreement with USPS®. Permit holders must meet all other MRS requirements for Priority Mail service.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM)
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400 Commercial Parcels
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402 Elements on the Face of a Mailpiece
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2.0 Placement and Content of Markings
2.1 Express Mail and Priority Mail Markings
[Revise first sentence of 2.1 as follows:]
Except for pieces paid using an Express Mail Corporate Account, Merchandise Return Service, or permit imprint, Express Mail and Priority Mail pieces claiming the commercial base or commercial plus price must bear the appropriate price marking, printed on the piece or produced as part of the meter imprint or PC Postage indicia.***
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420 Priority Mail
423 Prices and Eligibility
1.0 Prices and Fees
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1.2 Commercial Base Prices
For prices, see Notice 123, Price List. The commercial base prices are available for:
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[Add new item g to 1.2 as follows:]
g. Permit holders using Merchandise Return Service (MRS) for Priority Mail mailpieces when all MRS requirements are met (507.11.0).
1.3 Commercial Plus
[Add introductory text as follows:]
For prices, see Notice 123, Price List. The commercial plus prices are available to existing Priority Mail customers who are:
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[Add new item d to 1.3 as follows:]
d. Permit holders using MRS for Priority Mail items who qualify for commercial base prices and whose account volumes exceeded 100,000 pieces in the previous calendar year or who have a customer commitment agreement with the USPS (see 1.3.2).
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424 Postage Payment and Documentation
1.0 Basic Standards for Postage Payment
1.1 Postage Payment Options
1.1.1 Commercial Base Pricing
Commercial base Priority Mail postage may be paid with:
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[Add new item f to 1.1.1 as follows:]
f. Permit holders using Merchandise Return Service (MRS) for Priority Mail mailpieces when all MRS requirements are met (507.11.0).
1.1.2 Commercial Plus Pricing
Commercial plus Priority Mail postage may be paid with:
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[Add new item c to 1.1.2 as follows:]
c. Permit holders using MRS for Priority Mail items who qualify for commercial base prices and whose account volumes exceeded 100,000 pieces in the previous calendar year or who have a customer commitment agreement with the USPS (see 1.3.2).
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425 Mail Preparation
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2.0 Marking
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2.2 Price Marking
[Revise the first sentence of 2.2 as follows:]
Except for pieces paid using permit imprint or Merchandise Return Service, Priority Mail pieces claiming the commercial base or commercial plus price must bear the appropriate price marking, printed on the piece or produced as part of the meter imprint or PC Postage indicia.***
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500 Additional Services
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507 Mailer Services
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11.0 Merchandise Return Service
11.1 Prices and Fees
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[Add new 11.1.5 as follows:]
11.1.5 Priority Mail Commercial Base and Commercial Plus Prices
Priority Mail commercial base and commercial plus prices are available to MRS permit holders when the following criteria are met:
a. Commercial base prices are available for permit holders using MRS for Priority Mail items (423.1.2) when all MRS requirements for Priority Mail are met. See Notice 123, Price List, for applicable prices.
b. Commercial plus prices are available for permit holders using MRS for Priority Mail items who qualify for commercial base prices (423.1.2) and whose account volume exceeded 100,000 pieces in the previous calendar year or who have a customer commitment agreement with the USPS (423.1.3.2).
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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, which is available via Postal Explorer® at http://pe.usps.com.
— Mailing Standards, Pricing, 12-17-09
