Effective January 24, 2021, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM®) to reflect changes in shipping services for both International Priority Airmail® (IPA®) and International Surface Air Lift® (ISAL®) services in support of the realignment of the country groupings and prices. For more information on the realignment of IPA and ISAL services, see the article entitled “IMM Revision: Changes to Pricing for International Shipping Services” in this edition of the Postal Bulletin.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM)
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2 Conditions for Mailing
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290 Commercial Services
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292 International Priority Airmail (IPA) Service
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292.2 Eligibility
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292.23 Minimum Quantity Requirements
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292.233 Presort Eligibility — ISC Drop Shipment
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[Revise items a. and b. to read as follows:]
a. Direct country price. For price groups 1–20, a minimum of 2 pounds for each direct country container.
b. Mixed country price. For price groups 7–11, a minimum of 5 pounds for each price group; for price groups 3–6, a minimum of 5 pounds for each price group prepared under 292.482a, or a minimum of 5 pounds for each sack prepared under 292.482b.
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292.3 Prices and Postage Payment Methods
292.31 Prices
[Revise the first sentence of 292.31 to read as follows:]
IPA service has two price options: a presort price with 20 price groups and a worldwide nonpresort price.***
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292.4 Mail Preparation
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[Revise the title of 292.46 to read as follows:]
292.46 Presort Mailings: Direct Country — Price Groups 1, 2, and 7–20
292.461 General
[Revise the paragraph to read as follows (revising only the references to price groups, as noted in bold here merely for emphasis):]
Price groups 1, 2, and 7–20 may be prepared in direct country containers (full-service price and ISC drop shipment price). Each direct country container must contain at least 2 pounds of mail. The mailer must separately containerize items bearing customs forms from items not bearing customs forms and must prepare letter-size, flat-size, and package-size items in separate containers as defined in 292.462a and 292.462b. Smaller quantities qualify only for a mixed country price (price groups 7–11 only) under 292.47, or for the worldwide nonpresort price under 292.49. The maximum container weight is 66 pounds.
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[Revise the title of 292.47 to read as follows:]
292.47 Presort Mailings: Mixed Country — Price Groups 7–11
292.471 General
[Revise the first sentence to read as follows (revising only the reference to price groups, as noted in bold here merely for emphasis):]
The mailer may prepare price groups 7–11 in mixed country containers (ISC drop shipment price) only after all possible direct country containers have been prepared.***
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[Revise the title of 292.48 to read as follows:]
292.48 Presort Mailings — Price Groups 3–6
292.481 General
[Revise the first sentence to read as follows (revising only the reference to price groups, as noted in bold here merely for emphasis):]
Mailers must prepare price groups 3–6 in direct country containers (full-service price and ISC drop shipment price) or mixed country containers (ISC drop shipment price).***
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293 International Surface Air Lift (ISAL) Service
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293.2 Eligibility
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293.23 Minimum Quantity Requirements
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293.233 Presort Eligibility — ISC Drop Shipment
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[Revise items a. and b. to read as follows:]
a. Direct country price. For price groups 1–20, a minimum of 2 pounds for each container.
b. Mixed country price. For price groups 7–11, a minimum of 5 pounds for each price group; for price groups 3–6, a minimum of 5 pounds for each price group prepared under 293.482a, or a minimum of 5 pounds for each sack prepared under 293.482b.
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293.3 Prices and Postage Payment Methods
293.31 Prices
[Revise the first sentence of 293.31 to read as follows:]
ISAL service has two price options: a presort price with 20 price groups and a worldwide nonpresort price.***
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293.4 Mail Preparation
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[Revise the title of 293.46 to read as follows:]
293.46 Presort Mailings: Direct Country — Price Groups 1, 2, and 7–20
293.461 General
[Revise the paragraph to read as follows (revising only the references to price groups, as noted in bold here merely for emphasis):]
Price groups 1, 2, and 7–20 may be prepared in direct country containers (full-service price and ISC drop shipment price). Each direct country container must contain at least 2 pounds of mail. The mailer must separately containerize items bearing customs forms from items not bearing customs forms and must prepare letter-size, flat-size, and package-size items in separate containers as defined in 293.462a through 293.462c. Smaller quantities qualify only for a mixed country price (price groups 7–11 only) under 293.47, or for the worldwide nonpresort price under 293.49. The maximum container weight is 66 pounds.
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[Revise the title of 293.47 to read as follows:]
293.47 Presort Mailings: Mixed Country — Price Groups 7–11
293.471 General
[Revise the first sentence to read as follows (revising only the references to price groups, as noted in bold here merely for emphasis):]
The mailer may prepare price groups 7–11 in mixed country containers (ISC drop shipment price) only after all possible direct country containers have been prepared.***
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[Revise the title of 293.48 to read as follows:]
293.48 Presort Mailings — Price Groups 3–6
293.481 General
[Revise the first sentence to read as follows (revising only the references to price groups, as noted in bold here merely for emphasis):]
Mailers must prepare price groups 3–6 in direct country containers (full-service price and ISC drop shipment price) or mixed country containers (ISC drop shipment price).***
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The Postal Service will incorporate these revisions into the next edition of the online IMM, which is available via Postal Explorer® at pe.usps.com.
— Product Classification,
Product Solutions, 12-31-20
