The new illustration that will adorn the international reply coupon (IRC) as from 1 July 2009 was unveiled today in Geneva during a plenary meeting of the 24th Universal Postal Congress.
A Luxembourg artist won the competition, organized by the UPU's International Bureau in order to find a design for the next generation of IRCs. The work by Rob VAN GOOR, a graphic artist from the Luxembourg Post, was selected from amongst 10 designs presented by UPU member countries. The artist interpreted the theme of the contest, "The postage stamp: a vehicle for exchange", by depicting the world being cradled by a hand, and the perforated outline of a postage stamp. All 169 countries present at the UPU Congress had the opportunity to cast a vote for the winning design.
The new IRC, known as the Nairobi model, will go on sale on 1 July 2009. Postal customers, collectors and philatelists will probably be able to exchange it until the end of 2013. It will replace the current coupon, known as Beijing 2, which first went on sale on 1 July 2006 and will remain valid until 31 December 2009.
The international reply coupon is a postal product exchangeable in every UPU member country for one or more postage stamps representing the minimum postage for an ordinary priority letter-post item or an ordinary airmail letter sent abroad for the reply. Some 2.2 million reply coupons are sold each year by 121 postal administrations. While not all countries sell IRCs, all the postal operators of the UPU's 191 member countries, and their territories, are required to exchange them.
More than a century after it first appeared in 1907, the international reply coupon remains a useful item. Aside from its traditional use for correspondence, two particular groups of users have emerged: students, who use it as a means of exchanging correspondence with academic institutions, and amateur radio enthusiasts, who use coupons when exchanging their "QSL cards" confirming radio reception.