The UPU, a United Nations specialized agency for postal services, will work with international organizations to improve the global supply chain's security.
A new UPU inter-committee security group of postal operators and international organizations met for the first time last week at UPU headquarters to discuss the development and application of global postal security standards to improve the security of the global supply chain.
“It is essential to work together at the international level to define global standards in this area that apply to all actors rather than having individual countries or supranational bodies setting standards for everyone,” said UPU Director General Edouard Dayan.
The move follows last November’s introduction of new security measures by the United States Transportation Security Agency for US-bound international mail after two bomb packages from Yemen were intercepted in the network of private couriers last October.
The measures nevertheless forced the national Posts of UPU member countries worldwide to change their operational 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 mail transit hubs, causing mail backlogs around the world.
The UPU has worked with the TSA to explain the mail network’s specificity and relax the measures for low-risk mail. Several countries resumed full service at the end of March and early April. Others are still experiencing mail blockages or delays.
With the European Union also developing air transportation security requirements and the possibility of further extensions of the TSA measures, the UPU seeks a coordinated international solution to meet security needs without hampering the movement of mail or flow of trade.
Business impact
“Posts are used to dealing with temporary shocks like the Iceland volcano that disrupted air and postal traffic last year,” said Andreas Taprantzis, chairman of the Postal Operations Council, the 40-member UPU body that oversees issues dealing with postal operations. “But we worry about security measures that risk producing a more permanent shock that could seriously undermine the postal sector’s ability to meet customer needs and its growing market share in the small packets and parcels business.”
According to UPU research, the postal sector is experiencing two-digit growth in small packets and parcels, fuelled by e-commerce and trade expansion. In 2010, Posts saw their express and parcel volumes rise by more than 15% from 2009.
At the April meeting of the inter-committee security group, representatives from Posts, the International Air Transport Association, the International Civil Aviation Organization, the World Customs Organization and the World Trade Organization reviewed existing postal, customs and airline standards and processes. Recommendations are expected by the end of the year on how to harmonize them in a coordinated fashion.
The UPU’s Edouard Dayan said he fully understands the need for heightened security to ensure people’s safety and the global supply chain’s integrity. However, permanent security measures could cause problems for the UPU treaty if they compromise the principles of freedom of transit and the universal postal service, he said. “Security concerns should not restrict Posts’ ability to move the mail and the sector’s future growth. A better understanding of the postal business and a balanced approach to security are required.”
Dayan recently met with TSA Administrator John Pistole at UPU headquarters to discuss the postal sector’s concerns. The two agreed to work more closely together.
Posts worldwide send more than 418 million letters, packages and express mail pieces to the United States every year.