Effective April 7, 2014, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM®) to reflect changes to the Individual Country Listings (ICLs) for Azerbaijan, Belgium, Moldova, and Ukraine.
The following ICL changes are a result of formal requests made through the Universal Postal Union (UPU) via International Bureau Circulars (IBC):
n Azerbaijan: As indicated in UPU IBC 12, dated January 27, 2014, Azerbaijan is changing customs procedures to state that all mail items that are received within a 30-day period and that contain merchandise with a total value of up to $1,000 may be imported free of duty. To assist the customs service in evaluating these items, it is recommended that customers attach relevant invoices or statements.
n Belgium: As indicated in UPU IBC 5, dated January 13, 2014, Belgium is prohibiting all commercial shipments (business to consumer) containing any form of tobacco that would otherwise be mailable in personal shipments (e.g., cigars), including alternatives such as electronic or vapor cigarettes that contain nicotine.
n Moldova: As indicated in UPU IBC 29, dated February 17, 2014, Moldova is changing customs procedures to state that admissible non-commercial goods with a value of more than 300 EUR are subject to customs charges that the addressee must pay.
n Ukraine: As indicated in UPU IBC 17, dated January 27, 2014, Ukraine is prohibiting all software and technical devices that have been specifically developed, manufactured, programmed, or adjusted to intercept secret information and that are addressed to persons or entities other than the Ukrainian government.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM)
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Individual Country Listings
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Azerbaijan
Country Conditions for Mailing
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Observations
[Revise the Observations section to read as follows:]
All mail items that are received within a 30-day period and that contain merchandise with a total value of up to $1,000 may be imported free of duty. To assist the customs service in evaluating these items, it is recommended that customers attach relevant invoices or statements.
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Belgium
Country Conditions for Mailing
Prohibitions
[Insert a new entry in alphabetical order to read as follows:]
Commercial shipments containing any form of tobacco, including electronic or vapor cigarettes that contain nicotine.
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Moldova
Country Conditions for Mailing
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Observations
[Revise the Observations section to read as follows:]
Admissible postal items containing non-commercial goods with a value of more than 300 EUR are subject to customs charges that the addressee must pay.
* * * * *
Ukraine
Country Conditions for Mailing
Prohibitions
[Add a new entry in alphabetical order to read as follows:]
Software and technical devices that have been specially developed, manufactured, programmed, or adjusted to intercept secret information and that are addressed to persons or entities other than the Ukrainian government.
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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, 3-6-14
