IMM Revision: Items Improperly Deposited Bearing a Retail Customs Form

Effective July 28, 2013, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM®) sections 123.712 and 123.722 to clarify that any item bearing a retail customs form that is not accepted by an authorized employee will be returned to the sender.

The current standard provided in IMM 123.72 stipulates that the Postal Service will return to the sender an improperly deposited item that weighs 16 ounces or more bearing a customs form. In reality, this standard applies regardless of weight, as noted in IMM 225.12, 235.12, 245.12, and 255.12.

Consequently, we are revising IMM 123.722 to reflect this change for PS Form 2976-A, Customs Declaration and Dispatch Note CP 72, and we are adding this standard to IMM 123.712 for PS Form 2976, Customs Declaration CN 22 Sender’s Declaration.

Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM)

* * * * * 

1 International Mail Services

* * * * * 

120 Preparation for Mailing

* * * * * 

123 Customs Forms and Online Shipping Labels

* * * * * 

123.7 Completing Customs Forms

123.71 PS Form 2976, Customs Declaration CN 22 — Sender’s Declaration

* * * * * 

123.712 Postal Service Employee’s Acceptance of PS Form 2976

The Postal Service acceptance employee must do the following when accepting PS Form 2976 from the sender:

* * * * * 

[After item f (the last item in the list), insert a Note to read as follows:]

Note: Consistent with IMM 225.12, 235.12, 245.12, and 255.12, the customer must present any item bearing a handwritten PS Form 2976 to an employee at a Post Office retail service counter.

123.72 PS Form 2976-A, Customs Declaration and Dispatch Note — CP 72

* * * * * 

123.722 Postal Service Employee’s Acceptance of PS Form 2976-A

The Postal Service acceptance employee must do the following when accepting PS Form 2976-A from the sender:

* * * * * 

[Revise the Note after item h to read as follows:]

Note: Consistent with IMM 225.12, 235.12, 245.12, and 255.12, the customer must present any item bearing a handwritten PS Form 2976-A to an employee at a Post Office retail service counter.

* * * * * 

We will incorporate these revisions into the next update of the online IMM, which is available via Postal Explorer® at http://pe.usps.com.