|
|
The Postal Service continued to play a leadership role in the activities of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) during the Postal Operations Council (POC) and the Council of Administration (CA) meetings held in the fall of 2008 and the spring of 2009.
During the fall session, the four major POC committees, focusing on letters, parcels, financial services, and standards and technology, reviewed some 300 proposals to amend the UPU Regulations they approved many and referred others for further study. The POC approved several U.S. sponsored proposals to the Letter Post Regulations related to enhanced electronic transmission of data, the mandatory use of standardized barcoding, and pre-advice of dispatch messaging. Major changes in the Parcel Post Regulations included improvements to the system of setting inward land rates and expanded use of electronic information exchange. The POC approved the new Financial Services Agreement, successfully maintaining aspects of anti-money laundering provisions related to electronic money transfer and important to our national legislation.
In the spring session, the POC adopted a number of other key decisions, including approval of the Global Monitoring System Pilot Project , a new world-wide low-cost performance measurement system utilizing RFID technology which will eventually be used to expand the existing pay-for-performance system for letters. The Postal Service was actively engaged in several other key proposals including promotion of standard messaging for advance electronic transmissions between postal and customs administrations and successful adoption of an appeals process to dispute parcel rates. The Postal Security Group focused on reducing personal injuries from dangerous goods in the mail, reducing mail theft, improving revenue protection efforts, and boosting consumer confidence in the worldwide postal network.
|
|
