Effective October 24, 2019, the Postal Service™ is revising the Individual Country Listing for United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (United Kingdom) in Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM®) to note that the United Kingdom is adding a new prohibition for knives and sharp-pointed items.
This revision is based on a formal request that Royal Mail Group made through the Universal Postal Union via International Bureau Circular 144, dated September 9, 2019. Although the request noted that the effective date of the change in the United Kingdom is November 1, 2019, the Postal Service is implementing this change effective October 24, 2019, to allow adequate time to transport, process, and deliver items in the United Kingdom that otherwise are subject to return November 1, 2019.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM)
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Individual Country Listings
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United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Country Conditions for Mailing
Prohibitions
[Remove the entry beginning with “Switchblade knives,” and add the following entry in alphabetical order:]
Knives and blades, including kitchen knives (regardless of size or design such as meat cleaver or butcher knife, cutlery knife, or bread knife); cut-throat razors, gravity knives, and switchblade knives (also known as flick knives); gardening and farming tools (such as axes, choppers, hooks, machetes, pruning clippers, and shears) and tools used for the purpose of hobbies and trades (such as carpenter adzes, snap-off cutters, and utility cutters); scissors with sharp edges or points; and swords.
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Although effective October 24, 2019, the Postal Service will incorporate this revision into a later edition of the online IMM, which is available via Postal Explorer® at pe.usps.com.
— Product Classification, Marketing, 10-24-19
