Effective February 7, 2013, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM®) section 135.6 to clarify that shipments containing lithium cells or batteries continue to be prohibited in Global Express Guaranteed® (GXG®) service. This clarification is consistent with the list titled “Standard Prohibited and Restricted Items” in Publication 141, Global Express Guaranteed (which is available online at http://about.usps.com/publications/pub141.pdf).
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM)
1 International Mail Services
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130 Mailability
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135 Mailable Dangerous Goods
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135.6 Batteries
[Insert new 135.61 to read as follows (renumbering current 135.61 through 135.63 as 135.62 through 135.64):]
135.61 Availability — Mail Classes
Regardless of quantity or type — primary lithium (non-rechargeable) or secondary lithium-ion (rechargeable) — shipments containing lithium cells or batteries are nonmailable in Global Express Guaranteed service. The standards under 135.62 through 135.64 apply to all other outbound international mail classes.
135.62 General
[Revise the first sentence of renumbered 135.62 to read as follows (updating the references to the newly renumbered sections):]
Only lithium cells and batteries under 135.63 and 135.64 that are properly installed in the equipment they are intended to operate may be sent internationally or to APO, FPO, or DPO locations when not restricted or prohibited by the destination country or APO, FPO, or DPO location.***
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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, 1-10-13
