IMM Revision: Mail Preparation Revisions for International Priority Airmail and International Surface Air Lift Service

Effective June 6, 2011, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM®) sections 292.46, 292.47, 293.46, and 293.47. These revisions stipulate that, when a mailer claims the International Service Center (ISC) drop shipment price and enters the mailing at an authorized drop shipment location, container labels are not required for International Priority Airmail™ (IPA®) and International Sur­face Air Lift® (ISAL®) direct country, mixed country, or worldwide nonpresort sacks, letter trays, and flat trays.

The premise for current IPA and ISAL label data require­ments is to provide USPS® processing facilities with infor­mation regarding which ISC the IPA and ISAL containers are to be dispatched to; however, this information is not needed when a mailer drop ships the containers and enters them at an ISC, so we are revising the information for such instances.

These revisions do not change the label requirements for IPA and ISAL mail claimed at the full-service price, nor do they revise these sections’ container tag requirements (i.e., PS Tag 115, International Priority Airmail; PS Tag 155, Surface Airlift Mail; or PS Tag 178, Airmail Bag Label LC (CN 35/AV 8) (white)).

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

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2 Conditions for Mailing

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290 Commercial Services

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292 International Priority Airmail (IPA) Service

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292.4 Mail Preparation

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292.46 Sacking Requirements

292.461 Direct Country Sack (5 Pounds or More)

The following standards apply:

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[Revise the paragraph portion of item c to read as follows:]

c. Direct Country Sack Label. Mailers who claim the ISC drop shipment price and enter their mail at an autho­rized drop shipment location under 292.532 are not required to prepare sack labels. Mailers who claim the full-service price must complete sack labels as follows (see Exhibit 292.461 for the list of U.S. Ex­change Offices):

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[Move Exhibit 292.462 to follow the “Example” in 292.461, and renumber and retitle the exhibit to read as follows:]

Exhibit 292.461 Labeling of IPA Mail to Postal Service Exchange Offices (Full-service Only)

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292.462 Mixed Country Sacks (5 Pounds or More ISC Drop Shipment Only)

The following standards apply:

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[Delete item c in its entirety.]

292.463 Worldwide Nonpresort Mail Sacks

The following standards apply:

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[Revise the paragraph portion of item c to read as follows:]

c. Worldwide Nonpresort Sack Label. Mailers who claim the ISC drop shipment price and enter their mail at an authorized drop shipment location under 292.532 are not required to prepare sack labels. Mail­ers who claim the full service price must complete sack labels as follows (see Exhibit 292.461 for the list of U.S. Exchange Offices):

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292.47 Mail Preparation for Canada

***Mailers must prepare presorted IPA mail (full-service price and ISC drop shipment price) to Canada as follows:

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[Revise the paragraph portion of item c to read as follows:]

c. Direct Country Container Label. Mailers who claim the ISC drop shipment price and enter their mail at an authorized drop shipment location under 292.532 are not required to use container labels. Mailers who claim the full-service price must identify each con­tainer (letter tray, flat tray, or sack) to show the Cana­dian destination, followed by the U.S. exchange office code, and the content, as defined in Exhibit 292.47.

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Exhibit 292.47

[Revise the title of Exhibit 292.47 to read as follows:]

Canadian Mail Container Labeling Information (Full-service Only)

[In Exhibit 292.47, revise the footnote marker for footnote 1 to be an asterisk, and remove all footnote markers for foot­note 2; also, in the footnote portion of the exhibit, revise the marker for footnote 1 to be an asterisk, and remove the marker and text for footnote 2.]

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293 International Surface Air Lift (ISAL) Service

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293.4 Mail Preparation

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293.46 Sacking Requirements

293.461 Direct Country Sack (5 Pounds or More)

The following standards apply:

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[Revise the paragraph portion of item c to read as follows:]

c. Direct Country Sack Label. Mailers who claim the ISC drop shipment price and enter their mail at an autho­rized drop shipment location under 293.532 are not required to prepare sack labels. Mailers who claim the full-service price must complete sack labels as follows (see Exhibit 293.461 for the list of U.S. Ex­change Offices):

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[Move Exhibit 293.462 to follow the “Example” in 293.461, and renumber and retitle the exhibit to read as follows:]

Exhibit 293.461 Labeling of ISAL Mail to Postal Service Exchange Offices (Full-service Only)

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293.462 Mixed Country Sacks (5 Pounds or More ISC Drop Shipment Only)

The following standards apply:

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[Delete item c in its entirety.]

293.463 Worldwide Nonpresort Mail Sacks

The following standards apply:

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[Revise the paragraph portion of item c to read as follows:]

c. Worldwide Nonpresort Sack Label. Mailers who claim the ISC drop shipment price and enter their mail at an authorized drop shipment location under 293.532 are not required to prepare sack labels. Mail­ers who claim the full-service price must complete sack labels as follows (see Exhibit 293.461 for the list of U.S. Exchange Offices):

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293.47 Canadian Sack Labeling Information

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Exhibit 293.47

[Revise the title of Exhibit 293.47 to read as follows:]

Canadian Mail Sack Labeling Information (Full-service Only)

[In Exhibit 293.47, revise the footnote marker for footnote 1 to be an asterisk, and remove all footnote markers for foot­note 2; also, in the footnote portion of the exhibit, revise the marker for footnote 1 to be an asterisk, and remove the marker and text for footnote 2.]

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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.