Effective August 6, 2012, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM®) by adding a new subchapter 620 to announce the Global Direct Entry™ (GDE) Wholesaler Program.
Under the GDE Wholesaler Program, the United States Postal Service® establishes relationships with certain wholesalers that tender international inbound shipments and parcels to the Postal Service after the U.S. Customs and Border Protection has cleared the items. An approved GDE wholesaler must work closely with the Postal Service and, in exchange, may be able to enter into agreements with the Postal Service to have its name included in the USPS® website and to obtain sales leads from the Postal Service, thereby potentially increasing its business.
Prospective GDE wholesalers must meet certain criteria and demonstrate specific capabilities, including the ability to transfer package information and prepare manifests as specified in the mailing standards noted in IMM 620, and must receive approval from the Postal Service before participating in the program.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM)
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6 Special Programs
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[Insert new 620 to read as follows:]
620 Global Direct Entry Wholesaler Program
621 Description
Under the Global Direct Entry™ (GDE) Wholesaler Program, the Postal Service establishes relationships with certain wholesalers that tender international inbound shipments and parcels to the Postal Service after the U.S. Customs and Border Protection has cleared the items. An approved GDE wholesaler must work closely with the Postal Service and, in exchange, may be able to enter into agreements with the Postal Service to have its name included in the Postal Service website and to obtain sales leads from the Postal Service, thereby potentially increasing its business.
An approved GDE wholesaler that uses a representative or agent must ensure that the representative or agent complies with the rules and regulations of the GDE Wholesaler Program.
Prospective GDE wholesalers must meet certain criteria and must receive approval from the Postal Service before participating in the program.
622 Qualifying as a GDE Wholesaler
622.1 Eligibility Criteria
A GDE wholesaler must meet the following eligibility criteria:
a. Pay postage either through a permit imprint using USPS-provided Global Shipping Software (GSS) subject to the conditions stated in IMM 152.4 and DMM 604.5, or through a USPS-approved PC Postage Provider under DMM 604.4.
b. Be capable on an annualized basis of paying to the Postal Service a minimum of $250,000 in postage for Express Mail, Priority Mail, First-Class Mail, Parcel Select Destination Entry, Parcel Select NDC Presort, Parcel Select ONDC Presort, Parcel Select Nonpresort, and Parcel Select Regional Ground service, after all discounts have been applied, for items imported into the United States and tendered to the Postal Service.
c. Every 6 months, provide the Postal Service with sales projections and plans for the next 36 months related to the GDE Wholesaler Program, separated into 12-month increments.
d. Provide the Postal Service with the address(es) of its offices in the United States, or the address(es) in the United States of its agent who will be tendering items under the GDE Wholesaler Program to the Postal Service.
e. Provide the Postal Service with the details and capabilities of the customs broker who will be involved in the importation of items to be tendered under the GDE Wholesaler Program.
f. Provide the Postal Service with its information technology capabilities.
g. Agree to comply with all laws in the countries and territories in which it operates.
h. Ensure that all items tendered to the Postal Service under the GDE Wholesaler Program are prepared in accordance with all applicable requirements, including those set forth in the DMM.
i. Agree to first recommend Postal Service products and services to its customers who request the services of the wholesaler concerning any type of inbound commercial parcel shipment.
j. Upon the request of a customer gained by joint sales efforts with, or sale leads from, the Postal Service, provide to that customer detailed reports concerning the items that the GDE wholesaler has tendered under the GDE Wholesaler Program to the Postal Service on behalf of the customer, with details of volume and revenue information.
k. Provide a return address in the United States for items that it tenders to the Postal Service, and provide a detailed explanation of its return procedures.
l. If it would like to use the Postal Service brand, enter into a trademark license agreement with the Postal Service. Such trademark license agreement shall be specific to the location(s) where the GDE wholesaler will market USPS-branded products or services, and must comply with the laws and regulatory requirements of such country or countries, which may include but not be limited to registration and recording requirements. Both parties must execute the trademark license agreement before the GDE wholesaler may begin use of the Postal Service brand. Subsequent to execution of the trademark license agreement, the GDE wholesaler must provide the Postal Service with advance review of all proposed uses of the Postal Service brand.
622.2 Letter of Request
Any company desiring to be a GDE wholesaler must submit a letter of request to the following address:
MANAGER, REGIONAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
US POSTAL SERVICE
475 L’ENFANT PLZ SW RM 2P-826
WASHINGTON DC 20260-4017
The letter must affirmatively certify the following:
a. The company meets the eligibility criteria listed in 622.1.
b. The company is not disqualified from being a GDE wholesaler for any of the reasons listed in 623.1.
Approval of a GDE wholesaler is subject to the discretion of the Postal Service. If the Postal Service rejects a company’s request to participate in the GDE Wholesaler Program, the Postal Service’s manager of Regional Business Development will notify that company by e-mail that the request is not approved. A wholesaler who receives such notification may, within 7 days of receiving such notification, submit an appeal by e-mail to the Postal Service’s executive director of Global Business Management at
globaldirect@usps.com. The decision of the Postal Service’s executive director of Global Business Management concerning the appeal is administratively final.
622.3 Length of Qualification — Approval Period
Each GDE wholesaler will be qualified for a period of 1 year. At the end of that 1-year period, the GDE wholesaler must submit another letter of request to the Postal Service’s manager of Regional Business Development in accordance with 622.2.
623 Disqualification as a GDE Wholesaler
623.1 Determining Factors
The Postal Service will disqualify any wholesaler as a GDE wholesaler for any of the following reasons:
a. On an annualized basis, fails to pay the Postal Service a minimum of $250,000 in postage for Express Mail, Priority Mail, First-Class Mail, Parcel Select Destination Entry, Parcel Select NDC Presort, Parcel Select ONDC Presort, Parcel Select Nonpresort, and Parcel Select Regional Ground service after all discounts have been applied, exclusive of any extra services fees (e.g., insurance), for items imported into the United States and tendered to the Postal Service under the GDE Wholesaler Program.
b. Every 6 months, fails to provide the Postal Service with sales projections and plans related to the GDE Wholesaler Program for the next 36 months, separated into 12-month increments.
c. Fails to comply with any of the eligibility criteria listed in 622.1.
Also, the Postal Service will disqualify a wholesaler, a subsidiary, an affiliate, an agent, or a company of the wholesaler as a GDE wholesaler for any of the following reasons:
a. Being on the Excluded Parties List System (EPLS) of the United States Government, available at www.epls.gov/epls/jsp/FAQ.jsp.
b. Operating or participating in the equivalent of a GDE Wholesaler Program that is in direct competition with the Postal Service.
c. Being in arrears for any amount due to the Postal Service.
623.2 Notification of Disqualification and Appeal
If the Postal Service discovers at any time, by whatever means, that a company that has qualified as a GDE wholesaler has not complied with any of the terms and conditions in IMM 620, the Postal Service’s manager of Regional Business Development will notify that company by e-mail that the company has not complied with the terms and conditions of the GDE Wholesaler Program and that the company will be stricken from the list of approved GDE wholesalers within 30 calendar days. A wholesaler who receives such notification may, within 7 days of receiving such notification, submit an appeal by e-mail to the Postal Service’s executive director of Global Business Management at globaldirect@usps.com. The appeal must list the reasons why the company should not be stricken from the list of approved GDE wholesalers. The decision of the Postal Service’s executive director of Global Business Management concerning the appeal is administratively final.
624 List of Qualified GDE Wholesalers
The Postal Service maintains a list of GDE wholesalers and makes the list available on USPS.com, updates it periodically, and distributes it upon request to any person who indicates a need for an international consolidator for inbound international shipments.
625 Preapproved Advertising
A GDE wholesaler may state on advertising material that it has been qualified as a GDE wholesaler of the Postal Service, but the Postal Service’s manager of Regional Business Development must approve, in advance and in writing, the statement as it will appear on the advertising material.
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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, 6-28-12
