[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