By Sonia Meetes, Cyber Era NG Special Correspondent, Switzerland
Following the UPU’s press release of 6 September, the latest UPU data on postal flows shows that the negative impact on volumes to the United States of America remains significant, five weeks after the US suspension of the duty-free de minimis exemption on 29 August.
“Postal services are essential services. The UPU is now launching a fully-fledged solution that will allow every postal operator in its network – no matter how big or small – to meet customs requirements to ensure that citizens worldwide, including US citizens, receive their postal items,” explained Director of the UPU’s Postal Technology Centre Lati Matata.
The UPU’s latest data shows that, on 3 October, traffic was down 70.7 per cent compared with volumes one week before the regulatory changes were implemented. This represents a mere 10-percentage-point increase in volumes relative to 29 August, when inbound volumes had dropped 81 per cent compared with the preceding week.
Fully-fledged UPU solution released
A UPU application programming interface (API) providing postal operators with a first-level solution to calculate and collect the required duties from customers at origin was launched on 5 September, but was available only to postal operators with retail and counter solutions.
The UPU is now releasing a fully-fledged solution that enables countries to calculate, collect and remit required duties to the CBP through the UPU’s Customs Declaration System (CDS), which is already used by 176 postal operators. This out-of-the-box solution will allow postal operators access to a fully integrated system, including a customer-facing interface.
Only a handful of postal operators have informed the UPU that they have resumed operations to the US. This underscores the complexity of adapting to the new customs environment and the urgency of ensuring operational continuity. The UPU is therefore prioritizing the roll-out of its new solution to enable more postal operators to restore service to the US.
