Effective April 1, 2012, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM®) sections 213.82, 223.222, and 233.222 to codify that, in addition to USPS®-produced Global Shipping Software (GSS), mailers may also use other USPS-approved software to receive commercial base or commercial plus pricing for Global Express Guaranteed®, Express Mail International®, and Priority Mail International® items paid with a permit imprint.
In the article titled “IMM Revision: Changes to Pricing and Mailing Standards for International Shipping Services” in Postal Bulletin 22326 (12-15-11, pages 54–63), we announced that, effective January 22, 2012, mailers paying the retail price would no longer be allowed to enter Express Mail International or Priority Mail International items bearing a permit imprint at a business mail entry unit (BMEU). We established this in order to comply with various federal regulations that require the electronic transmission of Customs-related functions prior to mailing. At the time, the only solution that ensured compliance with the federal regulations was USPS-produced GSS. However, since the January 22, 2012, implementation date, several private manifest vendors have developed software solutions that also meet these regulatory requirements, and we are continuing to work collaboratively with other vendors in order to qualify additional participants. Consequently, we are revising our mailing standards to reflect that mailers using software purchased from USPS-approved vendors meeting these same regulatory requirements may also enter these mailings at a BMEU and are entitled to the applicable commercial base or commercial plus price.
The list of approved software vendors will appear as a link under the “Certifications” tab of the USPS Rapid Information Bulletin Board System (RIBBS®) website. Before the effective date of April 1, 2012, we will publish a subsequent Postal Bulletin article and an IMM revision identifying the name of the tab and the exact URL. In the interim, mailers may access the list by going to the RIBBS home page at https://ribbs.usps.gov; under “USPS-Approved Software Vendors for Outbound International Expedited Products,” click the link at the bottom Click here for software vendors that have met this certification.
The prohibition of entering Express Mail International and Priority Mail International items bearing a permit imprint (paying the retail price) without the electronic transmission of Customs-related functions remains unchanged.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM)
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2 Conditions for Mailing
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210 Global Express Guaranteed
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213 Prices and Postage Payment Methods
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213.8 Permit Imprint
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213.82 Permit Imprint — Commercial Base or Commercial Plus Prices
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[Revise item a to read as follows:]
a. Use USPS-produced Global Shipping Software (GSS) or other USPS-approved software listed at https://ribbs.usps.gov. (To request information about these software solutions, send an e-mail to
globalbusiness-sales@usps.gov.)
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220 Express Mail International
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223 Prices and Postage Payment Methods
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223.2 Postage Payment Methods
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223.22 Permit Imprint
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223.222 Permit Imprint — Commercial Base or Commercial Plus Prices
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[Revise item a to read as follows:]
a. Use USPS-produced Global Shipping Software (GSS) or other USPS-approved software listed at https://ribbs.usps.gov that electronically transmits Customs-related functions. (To request information about either of these software solutions, send an e-mail to
globalbusiness-sales@usps.gov.)
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230 Priority Mail International
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233 Prices and Postage Payment Methods
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233.2 Postage Payment Methods
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233.22 Permit Imprint
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233.222 Permit Imprint — Commercial Base or Commercial Plus Prices
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[Revise item a to read as follows:]
a. Use USPS-produced Global Shipping Software (GSS) or other USPS-approved software listed at https://ribbs.usps.gov that electronically transmits Customs-related functions. (To request information about either of these software solutions, send an e-mail to
globalbusiness-sales@usps.gov.)
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We will incorporate these revisions into the next update of the online IMM, which is available via Postal Explorer® at http://pe.usps.com.
— Product Classification,
Pricing, 2-23-12
