Effective April 26, 2015, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) sections 503.1 and 608.2 to clarify the references to restrictions for Freely Associated States.
On March 19, 2015, the mailing restrictions for Freely Associated States were listed in the Pull-Out section of Postal Bulletin issue 22411; this information will be updated periodically. Mail addressed to Freely Associated States is subject to certain conditions or restrictions of mailing regarding content, preparation, and handling. The FAS table outlines the conditions as listed by each affected FAS ZIP Code™ through the use of footnoted mailing restrictions codes. The Postal Service expects mailers to find this information helpful as they prepare shipments to these locations.
Although this enhancement will not be published in the DMM until April 26, 2015, these standards may be followed immediately.
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Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM)
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500 Additional Mailing Services
503 Extra and Additional Services
1.0 Basic Standards for All Extra Services
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1.4.2 Offshore Domestic Destinations
[Revise the introductory text of 1.4.2 to read as follows:]
As provided for the classes of mail under 1.4.1, and unless otherwise restricted (also see “Overseas Military/Diplomatic Mail” and “Freely Associated States (FAS)” sections of the Postal Bulletin), extra services are available for mail addressed to APO/FPO/DPO destinations (see 703), and to ZIP Codes in U.S. territories and possessions or Freely Associated States (see 608.2.0), as follows:
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608 Postal Information and Resources
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2.0 Domestic Mail
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2.4 Customs Forms Required
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[Revise the title and text of 2.4.3 to read as follows:]
2.4.3 Improperly Prepared and Prohibited Items
Mailpieces deposited without a properly completed customs form under 2.4.1 and 2.4.2 will be returned to the sender. See current Postal Bulletin for current prohibited or restricted items.
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2.5 Foreign Trade Regulations — U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Bureau of the Census
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[Revise the second sentence of 2.5.7 to read as follows:]
2.5.7 Additional Standards for the Freely Associated States
***As such, certain goods shipped (see 2.4.3) to these destinations from the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, or other U.S. territories may require an export license.***
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We will incorporate these revisions into the April update of the online DMM, which is available via Postal Explorer® at http://pe.usps.com.
— Product Classification,
Pricing, 4-16-15
