[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 231 (Friday, December 1, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 61660-61661]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-29323]
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POSTAL SERVICE
39 CFR Part 20
Implementation of International Package Consignment Service
AGENCY: Postal Service.
ACTION: Amendment to interim rule.
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SUMMARY: This amendment to International Package Consignment Service
(IPCS) provides an additional entry option to IPCS mailers whose plants
are more than 500 miles from the John F. Kennedy (JFK) Processing
Facility at the JFK International Airport. In the original interim
regulations, which took effect December 1, 1994 (59 FR 65961-65971),
any mailer whose plant is more than 500 miles from the JFK Processing
Facility must present IPCS packages for verification at the mailer's
plant and then transport them as a drop shipment to the JFK Processing
Facility according to a schedule agreed upon by the mailer and the
Postal Service. At the JFK Processing Facility, the Postal Service
processes the mailer's IPCS packages and dispatches them by air to
Japan.
Although that entry option remains available to all qualifying IPCS
mailers, an alternative option has been developed that allows mailers
to share some of the processing of the mail and to avoid transporting
the packages to the JFK Processing Facility. Under this alternative
option, those mailers whose plants are more than 500 miles from the JFK
Processing Facility, and who choose to do so, may process their IPCS
packages, using Postal Service-provided workstations to sort and
prepare the packages as required by the Postal Service. The Postal
Service then verifies and accepts the packages at the mailers' plants
and transports the packages by truck to the nearest Postal Service air
mail facility (AMF) according to a schedule agreed upon by the mailer
and the Postal Service. From the AMF, the Postal Service dispatches the
IPCS packages directly to Japan, bypassing the JFK Processing Facility.
Under this option, mailers save the cost of transporting their packages
to the JFK Processing Facility, and the Postal Service saves the cost
of processing and sorting individual packages. The interim implementing
regulations are amended and set forth below for comment before their
adoption in final form.
DATES: The amended interim regulations took effect September 1, 1995.
Comments must be received on or before January 2, 1996.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should be mailed or delivered to
International Business Unit, U.S. Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza
SW, Room 4400-E, Washington, DC 20260-6500. Copies of all written
comments will be available at the above address for public inspection
and photocopying between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Frank Richards, (202) 268-5743.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: International Package Consignment Service
(IPCS) provides a mailing service that meets the needs of mail-order
companies and other mailers that send merchandise packages from the
United States to multiple international addresses. Currently, IPCS is
available only to Japan.
IPCS benefits all users of other services provided by the Postal
Service by decreasing the total revenue that the Postal Service needs
to recover from those services. At the same time, IPCS makes it easier
and more economical for mail-order companies and other mailers in the
United States to export their products to international markets.
After the December 1, 1994, implementation of IPCS (59 FR 65961-
65971), the Postal Service determined that it could further reduce
costs and improve service by allowing mailers to share the package
processing workload if they met certain conditions. An alternative
entry option was thus conceived for those mailers that had
transportation costs associated with IPCS and that agreed to share the
processing workload of their IPCS packages.
A mailer that wishes to use this alternative entry option for IPCS
will be required to enter into a service agreement with the Postal
Service that provides the same commitments as required of all other
IPCS mailers. In
[[Page 61661]]
addition to those commitments, the mailer will be required to install
and use Postal Service-provided workstations to process IPCS packages
and to sort and prepare them for dispatch, as the service dictates.
The Postal Service hereby amends IPCS to Japan to allow an
alternative entry option for those qualifying mailers whose plants are
more than 500 miles from the JFK Processing Facility.
Although 39 U.S.C. 407 does not require advance notice and
opportunity for submission of comments, and the Postal Service is
exempted by 39 U.S.C. 410(a) from the advance notice requirements of
the Administrative Procedure Act regarding proposed rulemaking (5
U.S.C. 553), the Postal Service invites interested persons to submit
written data, views, or arguments concerning this amendment to the
interim rule.
List of Subjects in 39 CFR Part 20
International postal service, Foreign relations.
The Postal Service adopts the following amendments to the
International Mail Manual, which is incorporated by reference in the
Code of Federal Regulations. See 39 CFR 20.1.
PART 20--[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for 39 CFR part 20 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552(a); 39 U.S.C. 401, 404, 407, 408.
2. Subchapter 620 of the International Mail Manual is amended as
follows:
620 International Package Consignment Service
* * * * *
625 IPCS Service Agreements
* * * * *
625.2 Required Provisions
Each service agreement must contain the following:
* * * * *
d. For a mailer processing packages at the mailer's plant, the
mailer's commitment to use Postal Service-provided workstations to
process all IPCS packages and to sort and prepare those packages for
dispatch as specified by the Postal Service.
* * * * *
626 IPCS to Japan
626.1 Description
626.11 General
IPCS to Japan provides the mailer with three delivery options and
with preparation by the Postal Service (or on Postal Service-provided
equipment) of the customs forms required by Japan Post.
626.12 JFK Processing Facility
All IPCS packages processed by the Postal Service are processed at,
and dispatched to Japan from, a dedicated facility (the JFK Processing
Facility) at JFK International Airport.
626.13 Delivery Options
* * * * *
626.132 Standard Air Service. Packages sent as Standard Air
Service are transported by air to Japan, where they enter Japan Post's
domestic airmail system for delivery. The mailer can track Standard Air
Service packages through dispatch from the JFK Processing Facility or
the appropriate air mail facility.
626.133 Economy Air Service. Packages sent as Economy Air Service
are transported by air to Japan, where they enter Japan Post's domestic
surface mail system for delivery. The mailer can track Economy Air
Service packages through dispatch from the JFK Processing Facility or
the appropriate air mail facility.
626.2 Acceptance
* * * * *
626.22 More Than 500 Miles From JFK
626.221 Drop Shipment to JFK. If the plant at which the mailer's
IPCS packages originate is more than 500 miles from the JFK Processing
Facility, the mailer may present the packages for verification at the
plant and transport them as a drop shipment to the JFK Processing
Facility for acceptance according to a schedule agreed upon by the
mailer and the Postal Service.
626.222 Transport to Air Mail Facility. Alternatively, the mailer
may process the packages, using Postal Service-provided workstations,
and prepare dispatches as specified by the Postal Service. The Postal
Service verifies and accepts the dispatches at the mailer's plant
according to a schedule agreed upon by the mailer, and the Postal
Service transports the packages to an appropriate air mail facility for
dispatch to Japan.
* * * * *
627 Customs Forms Required
The mailer is not normally required to affix customs forms to IPCS
packages sent to Japan if the packages are processed at the JFK
Processing Facility. In such cases, the Postal Service prints the
necessary customs forms, based on the package-specific information
transmitted by the mailer, and affixes the forms to the packages. If
the packages are processed at the mailer's plant on Postal Service-
provided workstations, those workstations print the necessary forms
that the mailer normally affixes to the packages. During the interim
period in which the Postal Service and the mailer are establishing the
information system linkages to enable the Postal Service to accomplish
this, the mailer must affix the appropriate customs forms to the
packages, as follows:
* * * * *
628 Preparation Requirements
628.1 Express Service
628.11 Processing at JFK
Every package sent through Express Service must bear a label
identifying it as an Express Service package. The mailer is not
normally required to affix this label when such packages are processed
at the JFK Processing Facility. In this case, the Postal Service prints
the necessary label and affixes it to the Express Service package.
During the interim period in which the Postal Service and the mailer
are establishing the information systems linkages to enable the Postal
Service to accomplish this, the mailer is required to affix to every
Express Service package Label 11-B, Express Mail Post Office to
Addressee, or an alternative label as directed by the Postal Service.
628.12 Processing at Mailer's Plant
When packages are processed at the mailer's plant on Postal
Service-provided workstations, the workstations print the necessary
label, and the mailer affixes it to the Express Service package.
* * * * *
A transmittal letter making the changes in the International Mail
Manual will be published and transmitted automatically to subscribers.
Notice of issuance of the transmittal letter will be published in the
Federal Register as provided by 39 CFR 20.3.
Stanley F. Mires,
Chief Counsel, Legislative.
[FR Doc. 95-29323 Filed 11-30-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7710-12-P
