[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 16 (Tuesday, January 26, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3991-3992]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-1778]


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POSTAL RATE COMMISSION

[Docket No. IM99-1; Order No. 1226]


International Mail Report

(Authority: 39 U.S.C. 3663)

AGENCY: Postal Rate Commission.

ACTION: Notice concerning international mail report.

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SUMMARY: This document notes the establishment of a docket for matters 
related to the Commission's new annual international mail reporting 
responsibilities. It defers a formal rulemaking on permanent data 
submission requirements supporting this effort, but invites comments 
related to preparation of the initial report to Congress. These actions 
facilitate compliance with a new statutory provision requiring the 
Commission to prepare an annual report on international mail.

DATES: Initial written comments are due by January 29, 1999; reply 
comments are due by February 5, 1999. See Supplementary Information for 
other dates.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Margaret P. Crenshaw, Secretary, Postal 
Rate Commission, 1333 H St. NW., Suite 300, Washington, DC 20268-0001.
    FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephen L. Sharfman, General Counsel, 
1333 H. St. NW., Washington, DC 20268-0001 at 202-789-6820.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 21, 1998, Public Law 105-277 was 
signed into law, adding section 3663 to the Postal Reorganization Act. 
This amendment requires that by July 1 of each year, the Commission 
transmit to the U.S. Congress a comprehensive report of costs, 
revenues, and volumes the Postal Service accrues in connection with 
mail matter conveyed between the United States and other countries for 
the prior fiscal year. It also requires the Service to provide, by 
March 15, data the Commission may need to prepare the report. It 
further directs that the data be in sufficient detail to enable the 
requisite analysis to be performed under methods the Commission 
determines appropriate for analysis of rates for domestic mail.
    In recognition of this responsibility, the Commission issued order 
no. 1226 (January 15, 1999) establishing the docket designation ``IM99-
1'' to refer to international mail and to reflect the unique, ongoing 
nature of the required report. The order also addressed the following 
matters.
    Deferral of rulemaking given impending report deadline. On December 
16, 1998, United Parcel Service (UPS) asked the Commission to institute 
a rulemaking to determine the data to be provided to the Commission and 
the methods to be used by the Commission in analyzing the costs, 
revenues, and volumes of each international mail product for the 
required report. UPS asserts that it has a vital interest in ensuring 
that Postal Service international products with which it competes are 
not subsidized by other Postal Service offerings. It notes that the GAO 
has recently reported that several of the Postal Service's competitive 
international mail products are currently being provided at a loss. It 
observes that analyzing the costs, volumes, and revenues of 
international mail is a new responsibility for the Commission, and 
argues that in deciding what data and what methods to use, the 
Commission is likely to benefit from the input of interests affected by 
international mail.

[[Page 3992]]

    Section 3663 contemplates an ongoing responsibility of the 
Commission to analyze international mail costs and revenues. It 
therefore may be appropriate to establish permanent rules concerning 
data that the Postal Service should provide to enable the Commission to 
carry out this responsibility. However, it appears that initiating 
traditional procedures leading to the adoption of permanent data 
reporting rules would not be useful at this time, given the short 
period that remains for obtaining the data on which the initial study 
will be based.
    Establishing permanent data reporting rules will involve a 5 U.S.C. 
553 rulemaking of the type UPS suggests, but a rulemaking ordinarily 
requires more time than is available to obtain data for the initial 
report. The Commission must decide what data are necessary in advance 
of that deadline, and a rulemaking could delay identifying the 
information needed to prepare a report by July 1. Therefore, the 
Commission will defer establishing the rulemaking docket requested by 
UPS, although the Commission expects to initiate such an inquiry 
shortly after the July 1, 1999 report is completed.
    Request for comments on data and other issues related to the annual 
report. Despite the short time remaining for identifying data necessary 
for preparing the first report, input from interested parties would be 
helpful, since the required report covers ground that is largely new to 
the Commission. Therefore, the Commission requests written comments on 
this topic on or before January 29, 1999, and reply comments on or 
before February 5, 1999. To facilitate replies, all comments will be 
made available on the Commission's website (www.prc.gov) as well as in 
the Commission's docket room.
    To help interested parties focus their comments, the Commission 
invites them to identify the international mail products or services 
they believe should be analyzed in the report and to discuss their 
reasons for proposing the inclusion of these products. In that regard, 
an examination of relevant documents, including the International Mail 
Manual, USPS Publication 51, and the recent Government Accounting 
Office (GAO) report on new postal products (GAO/GGD-99-15), suggests 
that it might be appropriate for the report to consist of an analysis 
of the international products or services listed below. (This list 
appears as an attachment to order no. 1226.) Interested persons may 
wish to comment on whether this list is complete and whether the level 
of disaggregation is appropriate.
    Identification of candidate international mail products and 
services for purposes of 39 U.S.C. 3663. The list of candidate products 
and services includes: A. Inbound mail: letter and cards/AO; express; 
and parcels. B. Outbound mail: letters and cards (letters and letter 
packages; post cards and postal cards; and aerograms); other articles: 
printed matter, including small packets and matter for the blind (air 
and surface); M-bags (air and surface); parcel post (air and surface); 
express mail international service (EMS); international priority 
airmail (IPA); international surface airlift (ISAL); Valuepost/Canada; 
bulk letter service to Canada; global priority mail; global package 
link; global parcel services; direct entry; international customized 
mail (ICM); and international special services. C. Transit mail.
    Supporting data; request for comments. The Postal Service annually 
compiles an International Cost and Revenue Analysis (ICRA) containing 
data on international mail services generally comparable to those 
presented in the CRA for domestic mail. The Commission believes the 
data in the ICRA are necessary to support the required report. 
Additionally, supporting data on international mail services comparable 
to those provided in the cost segments and components (CSC) report for 
domestic mail will be necessary to support the report. The Commission 
invites parties to identify any additional data that they believe are 
likely to be helpful or necessary. Questions of commercial sensitivity 
should not be an obstacle to submission of data for the Commission's 
analysis, since the Commission has procedures that allow it to maintain 
and analyze in camera data found to be commercially sensitive.
    Finally, the Commission invites comments on any other issues that 
interested parties consider relevant to the Commission's duty to 
analyze and report on international mail costs, volumes, and revenues 
under 39 U.S.C. 3663.

    Dated: January 21, 1999.
Margaret P. Crenshaw,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 99-1778 Filed 1-25-99; 8:45 am]
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