Effective June 24, 2012, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM®) part 121 to codify that USPS®-owned mail transport equipment may be used only to transport mail to a USPS facility. Such equipment may not be used to transport foreign mail that is not intended for dispatch through the U.S. Postal Service®. This standard is consistent with part 581 of the Postal Operations Manual.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM)
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1 International Mail Services
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120 Preparation for Mailing
[Add a new heading to read as follows:]
121 General Information for Mail Preparation
[Renumber the current 121 to be 121.1 — except for the new number, the heading and text remain the same, and we are reprinting the entire section here for clarity.]
121.1 Packaging — Sender’s Responsibility
It is the responsibility of the sender to prepare items and to address them clearly and correctly. In preparing items for mailing, the sender must (1) use strong envelopes or durable packaging material to prevent deterioration or degradation, and (2) consider the nature of the articles being mailed and the distance they must travel to reach the addressee. (See DMM 601 for detailed instructions.)
[Add a new 121.2 to read as follows:]
121.2 Use of Postal Service Equipment
Consistent with Postal Operations Manual part 581, and without regard to mail class, USPS-owned mail transport equipment (MTE) may be used only to transport mail to a USPS facility. Such equipment may not be furnished to or retained by a mailer for the mailer’s internal operating use or personal convenience. In addition, MTE may not be used to transport foreign mail that is not intended for dispatch through the U.S. Postal Service.
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We will incorporate this revision into the next update of the online IMM, which is available via Postal Explorer® at http://pe.usps.com.
— Product Classification,
Pricing, 5-3-12
