[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 242 (Friday, December 17, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79054-79056]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-31671]


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POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. MC2011-8, CP2011-41 and CP2011-42; Order No. 608]


New Postal Product

AGENCY: Postal Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Commission is noticing a recently-filed Postal Service 
request to add Global Plus 2B Contracts to the competitive product 
list. This notice addresses procedural steps associated with this 
filing.

DATES: Comments are due: December 21, 2010.

[[Page 79055]]


ADDRESSES: Submit comments electronically via the Commission's Filing 
Online system at http://www.prc.gov. Commenters who cannot submit their 
views electronically should contact the person identified in FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT by telephone for advice on alternatives to 
electronic filing.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephen L. Sharfman, General Counsel, 
[email protected] or 202-789-6820.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents

I. Introduction
II. Notice of Filing
III. Ordering Paragraphs

I. Introduction

    Pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 3642 and 39 CFR 3020.30 et seq., the Postal 
Service seeks to add a new product Global Plus 2B Contracts, to the 
competitive product list and to that end, filed notice, pursuant to 39 
CFR 3015.5, announcing that it has entered into two Global Plus 2B 
contracts.\1\
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    \1\ Request of the United States Postal Service to Add Global 
Plus 2B to the Competitive Product List and Notice of Filing Two 
Functionally Equivalent Global Plus 2B Contracts Negotiated Service 
Agreements and Application for Non-Public Treatment of Materials 
Filed Under Seal, December 9, 2010 (Notice).
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    The Postal Service states that the instant contracts are 
functionally equivalent with one another and to previously submitted 
Global Plus 2B contracts.\2\ It states further that the instant 
contracts are supported by Governors' Decision No. 08-10, which 
establishes prices and classifications not of general applicability for 
Global Plus Contracts.\3\
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    \2\ See Docket Nos. CP2008-8 through CP2008-10, Order Concerning 
Global Plus negotiated Service Agreements, June 27, 2008 (Order No. 
85).
    \3\ See Docket No. CP2008-8, Notice of United States Postal 
Service of Governors' Decision Establishing Prices and 
Classifications for Global Plus Contracts, June 2, 2008, at 1.
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    The Request has been assigned Docket No. MC2011-8.
    The Postal Service contemporaneously filed copies of the contracts 
related to the proposed competitive product classification pursuant to 
39 U.S.C. 3632(b)(3) and 39 CFR 3015.5. The two contracts have been 
assigned Docket Nos. CP2011-41 and CP2011-42, respectively.
    The instant contracts. The Postal Service states that the instant 
contracts are the immediate successors to the Global Plus 2A contracts 
in Docket Nos. CP2010-69 and CP2010-70 that are scheduled to expire on 
11:59 p.m. on January 16, 2011. Request at 3. The instant contracts are 
expected to begin January 17, 2011, and expire at 11:59 p.m. on the day 
prior to the day in January 2012 when Canada Post Corporation 
institutes price changes for its domestic Lettermail, Incentive 
Lettermail, Admail, and/or Publications Mail products. If these prices 
do not change during the month of January the contracts terminate on 
January 31, 2012. Id. at 4-5.
    The Postal Service filed copies of the contracts, Governors' 
Decision with attachments, and supporting financial documentation under 
seal. Id. at 3.
    Additionally, in support of its Request and Notice, the Postal 
Service filed the following five attachments:
     Attachment 1--a statement of supporting justification 
required by 39 CFR 3020.32;
     Attachments 2A and 2B--a redacted copy of each contract 
and applicable annexes;
     Attachments 3A and 3B--certified statements required by 39 
CFR 3015.5(c)(2);
     Attachment 4--a redacted copy of Governors' Decision No. 
08-10, which establishes prices and classifications for Global Direct, 
Global Bulk Economy, and Global Plus Contracts, formulas for the 
prices, analysis and certification of the formulas and certification of 
the Governors' vote;
     Attachment 5--an application for non-public treatment of 
materials to maintain the contract and supporting documents under seal.
    Functional equivalence. The Postal Service asserts that the instant 
contracts are functionally equivalent both to one another and to the 
precursor Global Plus 2A contracts in that they share similar cost and 
market characteristics. Id. at 4. It contends as a result the instant 
contracts should be grouped together as a single product. Id. at 4-6.
    The Postal Service addresses similarities between the instant 
contracts and their predecessors, e.g., the fundamental terms and 
conditions of the contracts remain essentially unchanged. Id. at 6. It 
identifies minor changes in contract terms that distinguish the instant 
contracts from each other, e.g., customer name, penalties, and 
identification of prior agreements. The Postal Service asserts that the 
differences do not affect functional equivalency. Id. at 5-6.
    Baseline treatment. The Postal Service states that each of the 
instant contracts takes the place of its immediate predecessor which 
served as the baseline contract for the Global Plus 2A Contracts 
product.\4\ It requests that the instant contracts be considered ``the 
new `baseline' agreements for consideration of future functional 
analyses of the Global Plus 2B product.'' Id. at 4.
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    \4\ See Docket Nos. MC2010-27, CP2010-69 and CP2010-70, Order 
Approving Functionally Equivalent Global Plus 2A Contracts 
Negotiated Service Agreements, July 30, 2010.
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    Filing under part 3020. In support of its filing, the Postal 
Service submitted a statement of Supporting Justification and a copy of 
Governors' Decision No. 08-10 as Attachments 1 and 4 respectively. The 
Postal Service asserts that analysis under 39 U.S.C. 3642(b) is 
unnecessary here because of the Commission findings in Order No. 43 
that Negotiated Service Agreements for outbound International Mail are 
classified as competitive. Further it contends that the classification 
requirements of section 3642 have been met and that there is, ``no 
further need to ponder whether Global Plus 2B contracts are market 
dominant or covered by the postal monopoly.'' Id. at 7.
    The Postal Service states that its filings demonstrate that the 
instant contracts comply with the requirements of 39 U.S.C. 3633, fit 
within the Mail Classification Schedule language for Global Plus 
Contracts under Governors' Decision 08-10 and are functionally 
equivalent to each other. Id. at 8. It urges the Commission to add 
Global Plus 2B Contracts to the competitive product list and to 
establish the instant contracts as the baseline contracts for the 
Global Plus 2B product. Id.

II. Notice of Filing

    The Commission establishes Docket Nos. MC2011-8, CP2011-41 and 
CP2011-42 for consideration of matters raised in the Postal Service's 
Request.
    Interested persons may submit comments on whether the Postal 
Service's filings in the captioned dockets are consistent with the 
policies of 39 U.S.C. 3632, 3633, or 3642, 39 CFR part 3015, and 39 CFR 
3020 subpart B. Comments are due no later than December 21, 2010. The 
public portions of these filings can be accessed via the Commission's 
Web site (http://www.prc.gov).
    The Commission appoints Paul L. Harrington to serve as Public 
Representative in these dockets.

III. Ordering Paragraphs

    It is ordered:
    1. The Commission establishes Docket Nos. MC2011-8, CP2011-41 and 
CP2011-42 for consideration of matters raised by the Postal Service's 
Request.

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    2. Comments by interested persons in these proceedings are due no 
later than December 21, 2010.
    3. Pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 505, Paul L. Harrington is appointed to 
serve as the officer of the Commission (Public Representative) to 
represent the interests of the general public in these proceedings.
    4. The Secretary shall arrange for publication of this order in the 
Federal Register.

    By the Commission.
Shoshana M. Grove,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2010-31671 Filed 12-16-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7710-FW-P