IMM Revision: Clarification on Cigarettes and Smokeless Tobacco Prohibited in All Outbound and Inbound International Mail

Effective October 4, 2010, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Inter­national Mail Manual (IMM^®) section 136.4 to clarify that cig­arettes and smokeless tobacco are nonmailable when sent in outbound or inbound international mail — regardless of any specific country conditions to the contrary that appear in the IMM Individual Country Listings (ICLs).

In the article “Cigarettes and Smokeless Tobacco Pro­hibited in All Outbound and Inbound International Mail” in Postal Bulletin 22288 (7-1-10, page 12), the Postal Service codified in section 136.4 that cigarettes and smokeless tobacco are nonmailable when sent in outbound or inbound international mail effective June 29, 2010. How­ever, in contrast to this restriction, the ICLs of various countries indicate that the importation of specific quantities of cigarettes or smokeless tobacco is authorized — for example, Israel authorizes the importation of up to 600 cig­arettes. Nevertheless, the Postal Service has deemed that all cigarettes and smokeless tobacco are nonmailable when sent in outbound or inbound international mail.

The “Prohibitions,” “Restrictions,” and “Observations” published in each ICL are based on information the Postal Service receives from foreign posts, but regardless of spe­cific instructions from any country, the USPS-imposed mailing standards noted in the chapters of the IMM prevail and must always be followed.

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

1 International Mail Services

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130 Mailability

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136 Nonmailable Goods

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136.4 Cigarettes and Smokeless Tobacco

[Add a new last sentence to 136.4 as follows:]

*** This standard prevails regardless of any information to the contrary in the Individual Country Listings.

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We will incorporate this revision into the next printed version of the IMM and into the next monthly update of the online IMM, which is available via Postal Explorer^® at http://pe.usps.com.

— Mailing Standards,
Pricing, 8-26-10