World postal chiefs have launched talks with international organisations over coordinatedsecurity standards to ensure that international postal traffic keeps moving.
The initiative follows serious disruption to parcel flows around the world after last autumn’s ‘parcel bomb’ incidents and the subsequent US move to tighten security for inbound shipments.
Last week a new UPU inter-committee security group of postal operators met with variousorganisations for the first time last week to discuss the development and application of globalpostal security standards to improve the security of the global supply chain. Representatives fromPosts, the International Air Transport Association, the International Civil Aviation Organization,the World Customs Organization and the World Trade Organization reviewed existing postal, customsand airline standards and processes. Recommendations are expected by the end of the year on how toharmonise them in a coordinated fashion.
“It is essential to work together at the international level to define global standards in thisarea that apply to all actors rather than having individual countries or supranational bodiessetting standards for everyone,” said UPU Director General Edouard Dayan.
Dayan said he fully understands the need for heightened security to ensure people’s safety andthe global supply chain’s integrity. However, permanent security measures could cause problems forthe UPU treaty if they compromise the principles of freedom of transit and the universal postalservice. “Security concerns should not restrict Posts’ ability to move the mail and the sector’sfuture growth. A better understanding of the postal business and a balanced approach to securityare required,” he said.
The move follows last November’s introduction of new security measures by the United StatesTransportation Security Agency (TSA) for US-bound international mail after two bomb packages fromYemen were intercepted in the network of private couriers last October. Posts worldwide send morethan 418 million letters, packages and express mail pieces to the United States every year,according to the UPU.
The measures forced the national Posts of UPU member countries worldwide to change theiroperational procedures overnight. Some Posts stopped accepting or delayed US-bound mail items,including courier products, and faced higher transportation costs and the shutdown of major mailtransit hubs, causing mail backlogs around the world.
Since then, the UPU has worked with the TSA to explain the mail network’s specificity and relaxthe measures for low-risk mail. Several countries resumed full service at the end of March andearly April. Others are still experiencing mail blockages or delays, however. Dayan recently metwith TSA Administrator John Pistole to discuss the postal sector’s concerns, and the two agreed towork more closely together.
With the European Union also developing air transportation security requirements and thepossibility of further extensions of the TSA measures, the UPU seeks a coordinated internationalsolution to meet security needs without hampering the movement of mail or flow of trade.
“Posts are used to dealing with temporary shocks like the Iceland volcano that disrupted air andpostal traffic last year,” said Andreas Taprantzis, chairman of the Postal Operations Council, the40-member UPU body that oversees issues dealing with postal operations. “But security measures thatrisk producing a more permanent shock could seriously undermine the postal sector’s ability to meetcustomer needs and its growing market share in the small packets and parcels business.”
According to UPU research, the postal sector is experiencing double-digit growth in smallpackets and parcels, fuelled by e-commerce and trade expansion. In 2010, Posts saw their expressand parcel volumes rise by more than 15% from 2009. Overall, the world’s Posts deliver 433 billiondomestic letter-post items annually, as well as some 5.5 billion international items and over6 billion parcels.
