The UPU will move forward on several issues following decisions taken by its Postal Operations Council, which recently met in Berne.
Here are some of the highlights of the Postal Operations Council, which held its 2010 session from 12 to 30 April.
.post
The POC approved a domain management policy for .post, the top-level Internet domain name the UPU was officially granted last December by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. The policy sets out guidelines for the attribution of .post domains and how these can be used by postal-sector members.The policy is now subject to the approval of the Council of Administration.
Terminal dues
A set of rules were adopted for using letter-post performance results obtained from measurement systems such as the UPU’s Global Monitoring System for the calculation of terminal dues. Terminal dues are monies countries receive for processing other countries’ incoming international letter-post.
Postal security
Member countries supported a proposal to amend the UPU Convention before the 2012 Universal Postal Congress. The amendment would include lithium cells and batteries in the list of items that can travel through the international mail system if they meet the packaging requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Air Transportation Association.
Postal services in Palestine
Palestine was granted observer status at the EMS Cooperative, which promotes the development of Posts’ fastest service. This status will enable postal authorities to benefit from EMS training, and an assistance programme to help develop the service will be drawn up in coordination with the International Bureau. Since the 2008 Geneva Congress, the UPU has worked to implement the framework for Palestine to have direct mail exchanges with member countries. Over the past two years, the UPU has classified Palestine for terminal dues purposes. This enables the postal operator to receive financial assistance from the Quality of Service Fund for improving the universal service. A UPU international mail processing centre code was also granted to the postal facility in Ramallah.
Financial services
The POC approved a model service agreement for postal payment services. In addition to being a useful tool for governmental supervision of such services, designated operators will be able to use the agreement to facilitate and speed up the opening of exchanges between them. It also ensures that operators define levels of quality of service for postal payment services and that exchanges are secure through the use of international standards.
Parcels
The POC adopted minimum performance targets linked to bonuses for quality of service improvement. Available market research will be further analyzed to shape the future direction of the postal parcel product and market positioning. The Parcels Group will also work to better understand and address the needs of e-business customers in order for Posts to remain competitive in the market.
Agreements
The UPU signed two agreements with other organizations. The first - with the restricted union PostEurop - focuses on improving the quality of mail exchanges in Eastern Europe. The second - with the International Organization for Migrations - aims to improve migrant workers’ access to remittances through the postal network.