Effective April 22, 2021, the Postal Service™ is revising the Individual Country Listing for Austria in Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM®) to note import restrictions related to filtering facepiece masks.
This revision is based on a formal request that Österreichische Post AG (the designated operator of Austria) made through the Universal Postal Union via International Bureau Circular 43, dated March 22, 2021.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM)
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Individual Country Listings
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Austria
Country Conditions for Mailing
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Restrictions
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[Add a new restriction in alphabetical order to read as follows:]
A filtering facepiece (FFP) mask conforming to the EN 149 standard for class FFP2 is defined as personal protective equipment (PPE) and is subject to import restrictions as outlined in Regulation (EU) 2016/425. This same regulation is applicable to any other filtering FFP mask that conforms to similar standards and is intended for use as PPE (e.g., KN95, N95, GB 2626-2006, KP95, DS2, DL2, BIS P2, etc.). Consequently, a mailing that includes such a mask must meet the following criteria:
1. Each FFP mask must include the CE marking followed by the identification number of the notified body responsible for quality assurance.
2. Each FFP mask must be accompanied by user instructions in German.
3. Each mailpiece must include a copy of the manufacturer’s EU declaration of conformity in German affixed to the outside of the item — alternatively, the mailer may affix the Internet address at which the document is accessible. The declaration of conformity must include the information outlined in Regulation (EU) 2016/425, Annex IX.
For additional information, visit the following website (available only in German): bmdw.gv.at/Themen/International/covid-19/FAQ-corona-massnahmen/Import-von-PSA-waehrend-Covid.html. Austrian Customs will consider postal items containing noncompliant masks as wrongly admitted and will return them to the sender.
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Although effective April 22, 2021, the Postal Service will incorporate this revision into the next edition of the online IMM, which is available via Postal Explorer® at pe.usps.com.
— Product Classification,
Product Solutions, 4-22-21
