Effective May 19, 2011, the Postal Service™ has revised the Administrative Support Manual (ASM), part 274, to identify persons authorized to open, search, and read mail for purposes of enforcing export and assets control laws. This revision also updates references to the former U.S. Customs Service, which has since been renamed U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Administrative Support Manual (ASM)
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2 Audits and Investigations
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27 Security
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274 Mail Security
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274.2 Opening, Searching, and Reading Mail Generally Prohibited
274.21 Mail Sealed Against Inspection
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[Revise item d as follows:]
d. An authorized U.S. Customs and Border Protection or U.S. Department of Agriculture employee acting under 274.91 or 274.92.
[Renumber current items e through h as items f through i, and insert new item e as follows:]
e. An authorized employee of a U.S. government agency charged with investigating and enforcing compliance with U.S. export and assets control laws, to the extent permitted by law and pursuant to 274.914.
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274.3 Permissible Detention of Mail
274.31 Sealed Mail Generally Not Detained
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[Add new items l and m as follows:]
l. A postal employee or postal inspector with respect to any mailpiece identified as potentially violating the U.S. government’s export or assets control laws and regulations, as described in IMM 510 through 540, for a limited period necessary to arrange with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and other responsible agencies for a determination as to whether further examination is required and, if so, during such further examination.
m. Employees of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and other U.S. government agencies responsible for investigating and enforcing compliance with U.S. export or assets controls (such as the U.S. Departments of Commerce, State, and Treasury), during the pendency of any investigation authorized by U.S. law.
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274.5 Disclosure of Information Collected From Mail Sent or Received by Customers
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[Revise item i as follows:]
i. To U.S. Customs and Border Protection or the Department of Agriculture in accordance with 274.9, Mail Security, Law Enforcement, and Other Government Agencies.
[Reletter current items j through l as items k through m, and insert a new item j as follows:]
j. To law enforcement personnel charged with investigating and enforcing compliance with U.S. export or assets controls, with respect to mailpieces identified as potentially violating U.S. export control or assets control laws.
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274.9 Mail Security, Law Enforcement, and Other Government Agencies
274.91 Customs and Border Protection
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[Add new 274.914 as follows:]
274.914 Export and Assets Control Authorities
Where an outbound or inbound international mailpiece is reasonably suspected of violating U.S. export control or assets control laws (see IMM 510 through 540), Customs and Border Protection personnel may, upon consultation with the Postal Service and Postal Inspection Service, allow personnel from other agencies responsible for U.S. export and assets controls, such as the Departments of State, Treasury, and Commerce, to be present during Customs and Border Protection’s inspection, to conduct inspections jointly, and to receive custody of the items for any further examination or investigation that may be deemed necessary by such agencies.
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274.94 Customs Inspection in Territories and Possessions
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274.944 U.S. Virgin Islands
[Revise the first sentence in 274.944 as follows:]
Postal employees in the U.S. Virgin Islands may permit designated personnel of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, without a search warrant, to examine the exterior (but not open or read the contents) of sealed mail that originated in the Customs Territory of the United States (CTUS) and is addressed for delivery in the customs district of the U.S. Virgin Islands.***
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We will incorporate these revisions into the next printed version of the ASM and also into the online update, available on the Postal Service™ PolicyNet website:
n Go to http://blue.usps.gov.
n In the left hand column under “Essential Links”, click PolicyNet.
n On the PolicyNet page, click Manuals.
(The direct URL for the Postal Service PolicyNet website is http://blue.usps.gov/cpim.)
— BSA/OFAC Compliance Office,
Corporate Treasury, 5-19-11
