brochure 10 reasons why the world needs the upu

8/14/2019 Brochure 10 Reasons Why the World Needs the Upu

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provides a forum where all those who have an interestin the postal service can come together to discuss andnd solutions to the major challenges facing the sector.Questions dealt with by the UPU bodies and workinggroups include postal security, postal nancial services,technical cooperation, postal development, terminaldues, the universal postal service, technology and the

environment. Other UPU and industry groups such asthe Direct Mail Advisory Board try to energize growthsectors by following the latest developments and giv-ing guidance through publications and workshops. Thecreation of a new UPU body in 2004 the ConsultativeCommittee formally incorporated stakeholders fromthe private sector, enabling them to contribute in a con-crete way to discussions on the Posts future.

3A memberof the UN family

As a specialized agency of the United Nations since1948, the UPU maintains close relations and activelycooperates with other UN organizations such as theUnited Nations Development Programme in the eld ofpostal development, the United Nations Ofce for Drugsand Crime on combating criminal activities through theuse of the mail network and the United Nations Envi-ronment Programme in promoting a green image ofthe Post, to name but a few. In order to facilitate theow of international mail, the UPU also works closelywith international organizations such as the Interna-tional Air Transport Association (IATA), the InternationalOrganization for Standardization (ISO) and the WorldCustoms Organization (WCO). As a member of theUN family, the UPU promotes the general aims of the

10 reasons why the world needs the UPU

Defender of the universal postal service, protecter of the single postal territory, arbitrator,coordinator, developer, facilitator, promoter and organizer this is what makes the UniversalPostal Union continue to be a necessary and valued organization after 130 years!

1Maintaininga single postal territory

The 1874 Treaty of Berne that gave birth to the UPUsucceeded in unifying a conicting international mazeof postal services and regulations into a single postalterritory for the reciprocal exchange of letter-postitems, reducing the number of rates for mail between

countries to a single rate for all. Within the single ter-ritory, the principle of freedom of transit for mail itemsis guaranteed by all parties. The membership of newcountries agreeing to comply with the Regulationsgoverning the exchange of international mail (let-ters, parcels and other categories) has broadened theconcept of the single postal territory. Today, the UPUs190 member countries make up the largest physicaldistribution network in the world. Under the terminaldues system set up and managed by the UPU, Postsare nancially compensated for handling volumesof international mail exchanged with other Posts. Toappreciate the scope of this system, just imagine how

many bilateral and multilateral agreements there wouldbe without it!

2An international forumof cooperation

While globalization has brought countries closertogether, the forces of liberalization have also broughtnew players into the postal arena. As a result, the UPUsstakeholders have become a large and diverse mixtureof interest groups. To accommodate them, the UPU

Postal services are powerful vehicles of com-munication, important agents of social cohesion,and concrete contributors to economic and socialdevelopment. Since the creation of the UPU, asingle postal territory has linked the world inwebs of communication, commerce and trade.In doing so, the UPU has become one of ourmost valuable, yet largely unheralded, forums of

international cooperation and exchange.UN Secretary General Kof Annan


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United Nations, particularly its Millennium Develop-ment Goals, while representing the interests of Posts

within the various UN programmes and at UN eventssuch as the World Summit on the Information Society.

4Promotinguniversal postal service

As the rst objective of the World Postal Strategy, theprovision of universal postal service forms the bedrockof the UPUs mission. It supports the idea that all postalusers enjoy the right to a universal postal service involv-ing the permanent provision of quality basic postal ser-

vices at all points in their territory, at affordable prices.

Although universal service is contained in the UPUActs, the UPU cannot prescribe to member countriesand therefore seeks to ensure that they understandwhat is at stake and offer a service appropriate totheir own local realities. Despite the fact that universalpostal service has been dened in 67% of UPU membercountries, there still exist disparities between countriesand regions when it comes to postal service coverage.In developing countries, between 14 and 25% of thepopulation is still without access to postal services. Thiscontrasts sharply with the high level of universal postalservice provision in industrialized countries. The UPUcontinues to make governments, particularly those in

developing countries, more aware of their role in ensur-ing the provision of an extensive, good quality, afford-able universal service.

5Promoting postaldevelopmentand technical cooperation

In keeping with the spirit of the United Nations, the

UPU and its members promote cooperation so thatPosts may benet from the know-how and expertiseof others. Multi-year integrated projects enable devel-oping countries, particularly those least developed,to acquire much needed operational equipment andtraining to improve postal operations, which can havean impact on quality of service worldwide. These pro-jects also provide assistance in the event of disaster orcalamity and involve efforts to reduce the digital dividebetween industrialized and developing countries.

6Improvingquality of service

Increased competition and higher customer expecta-tions continue to place pressure on Posts to makeimprovements to the quality of their services. TheUPU undertakes worldwide quality tests, monitoringhundreds of international links through the use of testletters and parcels. It also publishes end-to-end deliv-ery standards against which Posts can measure theirprogress and sends consultants to countries to ensure

that internationally accepted procedures are followed.Recent tests showed that, during the rst semester of2005, 60% of the 96,400 test letters posted in more



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than 95 countries were delivered within ve working

days (J+5 standard adopted at the 2004 BucharestCongress). Improvements are recorded continuouslyand the UPU hopes to achieve a world standard of 65%by 2008. The UPUs EMS Cooperative has managed toimprove the quality of the EMS service considerablythrough a rigorous evaluation programme, with 85%of EMS items delivered on time during the second quar-ter of 2005. This compares to 52% at the beginning of2000. Since the Quality of Service Fund (QSF) was cre-ated in 2001, 30 of the 72 million USD collected havenanced 250 projects in developing countries.

7Supportingpostal reform

Postal reform is a strategy to convert Posts from pro-tected government organizations into competitive,customer-oriented businesses. With the advent oftechnology, globalization, the liberalization of marketsand increased competition, postal operators have hadto adapt to a new business environment and highercustomer expectations. While many Posts have under-gone profound changes in the last 20 years, many stilllack the structural and commercial exibility to become

more competitive. Since its creation, the UPU PostalDevelopment Action Group has made headway, clear-ing the way for constructive dialogue with the WorldBank and other regional development banks on thenancing of postal reform in developing countries. TheUPU also publishes guides that present the challengesof postal reform and proposes several approaches.

8Settingtechnical standards

Standards are important prerequisites for effectivepostal operations and for interconnecting the globalpostal network. The primary aim of UPU technical stan-dards is to dene a uniform mode of communication

between the different mail processing and tracking sys-tems in order to ensure efciency and quality of service.To date, more than a hundred standards have been cre-ated and the UPU is working closely with bodies suchas the European Committee for Standardization, theInternational Organization for Standardization, and theInternational Post Corporation. Nearly 25 million bagsand trays are tracked annually on the basis of messagesand UPU standard codes while Posts track an estimated40 million postal items in all categories. As postal sec-tor liberalization continues, rigorous technical stan-dards become increasingly important. The more postal

operators there are, the more essential it becomes tostandardize mail processing, tracking and transmission.It is therefore important that standards are appliedworldwide by all postal sector stakeholders; otherwisethere would be chaos in delivering even a simple letteror parcel from one country to another!

9Promoting and developingnew products and services

Small packets, international reply coupons, EMS and

money orders are some of the products and servicesthat have been promoted by the UPU. The organiza-tion continuously encourages its members to develop



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and use new products and services to meet customersrequirements around the world. Through its Telematics

Cooperative and Postal Technology Centre, the UPUdevelops systems to assist Posts in implementing newtechnologies to better manage their mail operations,expedite mail transfers and improve security. Mindfulof the technological and nancial constraints facedby many of its member countries, the UPU is quick todevelop or adapt software applications to meet thespecic needs of Posts. This has made it possible fordeveloping countries to acquire systems for trackingmail and transferring funds (International Postal Systemand International Financial System). The electronic post-mark, developed by a handful of industrialized Posts,

has also found a home in the UPU, which is trying toextend its use to developing Posts that would otherwisenot have the means to adopt it. The UPU has also cre-ated products such as the POST*Code postal address-ing system and the Universal List of Localities to ensurebetter mail targeting by Posts and customers.

UNIVERSAL POSTAL UNIONP.O. Box

3000 BERNE 15SWITZERLAND

www.upu.int

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Sharing knowledge

and informationThe UPU monitors developments in the postal sector,analyzes market trends and studies market condi-tions, recommends guidelines to be followed andfacilitates the exchange of intellectual and statisticaldata, enabling Posts throughout the world to adapt toimminent changes. With the creation of the Direct MailAdvisory Board, many countries are now making useof the resources, seminars and workshops available todevelop this sector and generate additional revenue.In cooperation with the World Association for the

Development of Philately, the UPU has highlighted theproblem of illegal postage stamps in an effort to nda solution to a situation that seriously harms the Postsimage and results in the signicant loss of revenue. TheUPU also produces entire series of publications on mailguidelines and postal statistics.


brochure 10 reasons why the world needs the upu

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