Effective June 17, 2021, the Postal Service™ is revising Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM®), section 123.722k, to change the retention period of the Post Office™ Copy of PS Form 2976-R, USPS Customs Declaration and Dispatch Note, processed at USPS® retail service counters to 6 years.
The U.S. agencies whose regulations might affect the record retention of customs declaration data include, but are not limited to, the following:
n The Department of Commerce — Bureau of Industry and Security.
n The Department of Commerce — Census Bureau.
n The Department of Homeland Security — Customs and Border Protection.
n The Department of State — Directorate of Defense Trade Controls.
n The Department of Treasury — Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Certain U.S. export regulators require the retention of documents for a minimum of 5 years after the date of export. The Postal Service retains its documents for 6 years to ensure accountability between acceptance and export of mailpieces, and to align the retention period for hard copy documents to the current retention period for electronic data.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM)
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1 International Mail Services
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120 Preparation for Mailing
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123 Customs Forms and Online Shipping Labels
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123.7 Completing Customs Forms
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123.72 Preparation and Acceptance of PS Form 2976–R
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123.722 Postal Service Employee’s Acceptance of PS Form 2976-R
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[Revise item k. to read as follows (changing 30 days to 6 years):]
k. Remove and store (per local requirements) the Post Office Copy (Copy 3) and tell the mailer that the Postal Service will retain this document for 6 years as a record of mailing. Remove the Sender’s Copy (Copy 4) and give it to the sender.
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Although effective June 17, 2021, 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,
Product Solutions, 6-17-21
