NEW SYSTEM UPCOMING
The US changes places the burden of customs duty collection and remittance on transport carriers or “qualified parties” approved by the US Customs and Border Protection agency.
“Carriers, such as airlines, signalled they were unwilling or unable to bear this responsibility”, while postal operators had not yet established links to those approved parties, “causing major operational disruptions”, said the UPU.
The UN agency said it was working on a “Delivered Duty Paid” solution, which will soon be integrated into its customs declaration platform.
It enables post operators “to calculate and collect the required duties from customers at origin”, the agency said.
In the meantime, the UPU said that, as of Friday, postal operators could access a calculator via a software interface that can be plugged into their retail and counter systems.
LETTER SENT
Metoki has written to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to convey member countries’ concerns surrounding the upheaval.
UPU figures show that over the past 12 months, inbound traffic to the United States, from all categories of mail, comprised 15 per cent of global postal traffic.
Of that, 44 per cent came from Europe, 30 per cent from Asia, and 26 per cent from the rest of the world.
The majority was likely to be small packages – the international mail product most often used for e-commerce goods, said the UPU.
Based in the Swiss capital Bern, the UPU was established in 1874 and counts 192 member states. It sets the rules for international mail exchanges and makes recommendations to improve services.
