Effective January 1, 2014, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM®) in various locations to revise the standards for insurance liability payments for Registered Mail™ items and for Priority Mail International® ordinary and insured parcels that have been lost or delivered in damaged condition or with missing contents.
Currently, the addressee receives payment for a claim (from the originating postal administration) unless the addressee waives his or her right to payment, in writing, in favor of the sender. Under these revised standards, the sender receives payment for a claim unless the sender waives his or her right to payment, in writing, in favor of the addressee.
These revisions are based on the amendments adopted by the Universal Postal Union (UPU) Convention held in Berne, Switzerland, in April 2013, which reflect the decisions of the UPU congress in Doha, Qatar, in September 2012.
Although effective on January 1, 2014, these changes will first appear in the IMM with the revised edition dated January 26, 2014.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM)
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2 Conditions for Mailing
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230 Priority Mail International
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232 Eligibility
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232.8 Priority Mail International Insurance and Indemnity
232.81 Indemnity
[In the first paragraph, revise the third sentence to read as follows:]
***If the parcel has been lost, or if it has been delivered to the addressee in damaged condition or with missing contents, payment is made to the sender unless the sender waives the right to payment, in writing, in favor of the addressee.***
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3 Extra Services
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320 Insurance
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323 Priority Mail International Insurance
323.1 Description
[Revise the last sentence to read as follows:]
***If the parcel has been lost, or if it has been delivered to the addressee in damaged condition or with missing contents, payment is made to the sender unless the sender waives the right to payment, in writing, in favor of the addressee.
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330 Registered Mail
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335 Indemnity Claims and Payments
[Revise the last sentence to read as follows:]
***If a registered article has been lost, or if it has been delivered to the addressee in damaged condition or with missing contents, payment is paid to the sender unless the sender waives the right to payment, in writing, in favor of the addressee.
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9 Inquiries, Indemnities, and Refunds
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920 Inquiries and Claims
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922 Claims
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922.2 Filing a Claim
[Revise the fifth sentence to read as follows:]
***Claims for registered items and insured and ordinary parcels that are lost, or that are delivered to the addressee in damaged condition or with missing contents, are payable to the sender, unless the sender waives the right to payment, in writing, in favor of the addressee.***
Exhibit 922.2 Filing Claims
[Revise the last entry to read as follows (indicating in the second column that only the U.S. sender may file a claim):]
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930 Indemnity Payments
931 Adjudication and Approval
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931.2 International Claims
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931.22 Country of Origin Pay Indemnity
Payment is made as follows:
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[Revise items c and d to read as follows:]
c. Claims for items delivered in damaged condition or with missing contents are paid by the country of origin to the sender. The U.S. Postal Service makes payments to U.S. senders. The sender may waive the right to payment, in writing, in favor of the addressee. In such a case, the destination administration makes payment to the addressee.
d. Claims for items mailed from foreign countries that are lost or that are delivered in damaged condition or with missing contents are paid by the origin administration to the sender. The sender may waive the right to payment, in writing, in favor of the U.S. addressee. In such a case, the U.S. Postal Service pays the U.S. addressee.
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933 Payments for Priority Mail International Insured Parcels and Priority Mail International Ordinary Parcels
933.1 General Provisions
[Revise the heading and text of 933.11 to read as follows:]
933.11 Payment of Indemnity — Insured Parcels
Indemnity may be paid as follows:
a. For loss, damage, or missing contents, based on the actual value of articles at the time and place of mailing.
b. To the sender, or to the addressee if the sender waives the right to payment, in writing, in favor of the addressee.
933.12 Indemnity Will Not Be Paid
[Revise the introductory statement to read as follows:]
In addition to the general exceptions to payment described in 932, indemnity will not be paid in the following instances:
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[Delete item 933.12h in its entirety.]
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933.14 Ordinary Priority Mail International Parcels — Exceptions to Indemnity
[Revise the introductory statement to read as follows:]
In addition to the general exceptions to payment described in 932, indemnity will not be paid in the following instances:
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[Delete item 933.14h in its entirety.]
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934 Payments for Registered Mail
934.1 General Provisions
934.11 Indemnity Paid by Country of Origin
[Revise the text to read as follows:]
For registered items, the country of origin pays the sender indemnity for loss, damage, or missing contents according to 934.2.
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[Revise the heading and text of 934.13 in its entirety to read as follows:]
934.13 Limitations to Indemnity Payment
In addition to the general exceptions to payment described in 932, the following limitations to indemnity payments apply:
a. For loss, damage, or missing contents of an outbound or an inbound registered item, indemnity will not be paid to anyone in the United States other than the sender, unless the sender waives payment, in writing, in favor of the addressee. In such a case, the destination administration makes payment to the addressee.
b. For a domestic registered item that bears a foreign return address and that is forwarded under 762.2, indemnity will not be paid in excess of the limits in 934.2.
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934.14 Indemnity Paid by Country of Destination
[Revise the text to read as follows:]
When the sender waives the right to payment, in writing, in favor of the addressee, the country of destination pays the addressee indemnity for loss, damage, or missing contents.
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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, 11-14-13
