PA to exchange mail directly with UPU member countries – UPU press release

UNIVERSAL POSTAL

UNION PRESS RELEASE

Palestinian Authority to exchange mail directly with UPU member countries

Israeli and Palestinian Posts agree on a joint declaration

Geneva (Switzerland), 7 August 2008

The Universal Postal Union yesterday announced that the Israeli and Palestinian postal authorities had been discussing solutions aimed at improving the operations and quality of the Palestinian Authority's postal services, "with the aim of strengthening international postal cooperation".

In a joint declaration read out by UPU Director General Edouard Dayan to the member countries attending the 24th Universal Postal Congress in Geneva, both parties pledged to start facilitating direct exchanges between the Palestinian Authority and the UPU member countries as of now. Mail will transit via Amman, Jordan.

Dayan described this declaration as an "important development" in the UPU International Bureau's efforts to help the Palestinian postal service become "better integrated into the world postal community". He added that the announcement would help to prepare the ground for work to develop and improve the quality of the Palestinian postal service, and welcomed the "spirit of dialogue and total cooperation" shown by both parties.

"The technical and operational solutions that are envisaged will enable the Palestinian postal services to launch direct mail exchanges, and will establish the rights and duties associated with terminal dues and the UPU Quality of Service Fund."

Terminal dues are the compensation countries receive for handling international mail arriving from other countries.

The declaration also stated that the two parties had agreed to work on a bilateral basis, and within the framework of the relevant agreements reached between them, to ensure the "rapid, concrete implementation" of these direct exchanges.

Dayan also called on the international postal community to lend its support to the Palestinian Authority's postal services.

About the Universal Postal Union

The UPU, based in Berne (Switzerland), is the primary forum for cooperation between Posts. In addition to maintaining a genuinely universal network that provides modern products and services, it establishes the rules for international mail exchanges among its 191 members and makes recommendations to stimulate mail volume growth and to improve the quality of service for customers. Each year, more than five million employees process and deliver 433.6 billion domestic letter-post items, some 5.5 billion international items and over 6 billion ordinary parcels. The UPU this year celebrates 60 years as a specialized agency of the United Nations.