Effective September 3, 2013, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM®) by adding a new subchapter to establish what actions the Postal Service will take when an air carrier refuses an international mailpiece.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM)
* * * * *
4 Treatment of Outbound Mail
* * * * *
[Redesignate 440 as 450, and insert new 440 to read as follows:]
440 Mailpiece Refused by an Air Carrier
441 Item Containing Nonmailable, Hazardous, or Perishable Material
When an air carrier refuses a mailpiece containing nonmailable, hazardous, or perishable material, Postal Service employees will follow the standards in section 727.2 or 742.3 of Publication 52, Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Mail. In such an instance, the customer may be eligible for refund of postage consistent with IMM 941, IMM 942, and DMM 604.9.
442 Mailable Item
For all mail classes with the exception of Global Express Guaranteed service, when an air carrier refuses a properly prepared and labeled mailable international mailpiece, the Postal Service will attempt to find a suitable alternative air carrier. However, if it cannot identify another air carrier, the Postal Service will file an incident report and return the item to the sender using Label 180, Air Carrier Rejected Mail. In such an instance, the customer may apply for refund of postage consistent with IMM 941, IMM 942, and DMM 604.9.
Note: For a refused mailable item, the mailer may have the option to send the item using Global Express Guaranteed (GXG) service, which uses a unique transportation network. The item must be otherwise mailable using GXG service (see 210), GXG service must be available to the destination country (see 213.5), and the mailer must enter the item through a Post Office facility that accepts GXG items (see 215.1). In addition, the mailer must apply a new shipping label (see 214.1) with new postage (based on the item’s weight and the destination country’s GXG price group), and must obliterate any markings or labels (e.g., Label 180) indicating the item was previously returned.
* * * * *
When effective, we will incorporate these revisions into the online IMM, which is available via Postal Explorer® at http://pe.usps.com.
— Product Classification,
Pricing, 7-25-13
