Effective July 28, 2014, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) parts 203, 601, 608, 703, 705, and 707, as we continue our initiative to reduce the size of the DMM without changes to standards.
Part 203, Basic Postage Statement, Documentation, and Preparation, will be updated to include Periodicals related information.
Part 601, Mailability, will be revised to eliminate redundancy, streamline information, and relocate the hazardous, restricted, and perishable sections. Sections 601.1, General Standards, and 601.2, Bundles, were revised in the June 4, 2014, DMM release. Sections 601.8 through 601.12 will be relocated to various sections in Publication 52, Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Mail. A new section 601.8 will be added as a high level overview of hazardous, restricted, and perishable mail and will guide mailers to Publication 52 for the respective mailing standards.
Part 608, Postal Information and Resources, will be revised to streamline information. Specifically, sections 608.3, Post Offices and Holidays, 608.4, Philatelic (Stamp Collecting) Services, 608.5, Private Express Statutes, 608.7, Trademarks and Copyrights of the USPS, and 608.8, USPS Contact Information, will be revised to provide only source references for information on each of these sections.
Part 703, Nonprofit Standard Mail and other Unique Eligibility, will be revised to streamline information. Specifically, sections 703.6, Official Mail (Franked), and 703.7, Official Mail (Penalty), will provide Handbook DM-103, Official Mail, as the source reference, and the information from each section will be relocated to Handbook DM-103.
Part 705, Advanced Preparation and Special Postage Payment Systems, will be revised to consolidate, relocate, and streamline information. Section 705.1, Customized MarketMail, will be consolidated into part 201, Physical Standards, and part 240, Standard Mail. In section 705.2, Manifest Mailing System, subsection 705.2.9, the Electronic Verification System will provide RIBBS (https://ribbs/index.cfm) and Publication 205, Electronic Verification System Technical Guide, as the source reference for information. Section 705.3, Optional Procedure Mailing System, will provide RIBBS and Publication 407, Optional Procedure (OP) Mailing System, as the source reference for information. Section 705.22 will be relocated as new section 202.7 to bring it in line with the other items that are located on the face of a mailpiece.
Part 707, Periodicals, has been renumbered as part 207, to bring it in line with the other classes of mail in Chapter 200. We have consolidated information and eliminated redundant language in new part 207 for consistency and to improve flow and ease of use.
Additionally, the applicable Quick Service Guides (QSGs) have been renumbered and updated with new DMM reference information. Applicable Customer Support Rulings have also been updated with new DMM reference information.
To assist in this transition the Postal Service is posting a spreadsheet on Postal Explorer® at http://pe.usps.com that will contain a crosswalk for each section of the DMM and renumbering of the QSGs.
— Product Classification,
Pricing, 7-24-14
