Effective July 7, 2014, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM®) part 139 to indicate that cremated remains shipped internationally must be contained within a sealed funeral urn that also meets the requirements concerning sift-proof containers. The urn is then required to be cushioned and placed inside a sturdy, sift-proof outer container.
The revision to require an urn is based on a regulation adopted by the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in Berne, Switzerland, in November 2013, which reflects the decisions of the UPU Postal Security Group and the Postal Operations Council.
Also effective July 7, 2014, the Postal Service will permit mailers to ship cremated remains internationally only by Priority Mail Express International™ service. The Postal Service will no longer authorize mailers to ship cremated remains using First-Class Package International Service® with Registered Mail™ service.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM)
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1 International Mail Services
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130 Mailability
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139 Cremated Remains
139.1 Eligibility
[Revise the introductory statement to include “and animal” in the parenthesis to read as follows:]
Cremated remains (human and animal ashes) are permitted to be mailed internationally under the following conditions:
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[Revise item b to read as follows:]
b. The package is sent only by Priority Mail Express International service. (See the Individual Country Listings for availability.)
139.2 Packaging
[Revise 139.2 to read as follows:]
The mailer must package cremated remains (human or animal ashes) in a sealed and sift-proof funeral urn. The mailer must place the urn into a strong and durable outer container, and must pack the outer container with sufficient cushioning material to prevent shifting during transit. The outer container must be sift-proof to prevent powders from escaping, and thereby soiling, damaging, or destroying another mailpiece or any postal equipment, or from causing discomfort to a person.
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When effective, we will incorporate this revision into the online IMM, which is available via Postal Explorer® at http://pe.usps.com.
— Product Classification,
Pricing, 5-29-14
