Effective July 28, 2013, the Postal Service™ will revise the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) 302.5.0 to remove obsolete language that prohibits 5-digit or 9-digit routing barcodes on automation flats. That restriction was implemented when the qualifying barcode was a POSTNET barcode. Now that all automation flats must have an Intelligent Mail barcode (IMb), and in recognition of the practice of upgrading the quality of barcodes on flats, a non-qualifying 5-digit or 9-digit barcode will be allowed on an automation flat as long as the qualifying barcode also is on the flat in a location as allowed by DMM 302.5.1. As a reminder, DMM 302.5.1 will remain as is, and mailers may use the new option immediately.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM)
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300 Commercial Flats
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302 Elements on the Face of a Mailpiece
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5.0 Barcode Placement
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[Delete current 5.2, 5-Digit and ZIP+4 Barcodes, in its entirety, and renumber current 5.3 through 5.5 as new 5.2 through 5.4.]
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We will incorporate these revisions into the next monthly update of the online DMM available via Postal Explorer® at http://pe.usps.com.
— Product Classification,
Pricing, 6-27-13
