UPU | WIPO

WCO and UPU take action to facilitate the sharing of information on the global postal supply chain in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic

On 15 April 2020, the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the Universal Postal Union (UPU) sent a joint letter to inform their respective Members of the actions taken by the WCO and the UPU in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, emphasizing that coordination between Customs administrations and designated postal operators (DOs) is critical to the continued facilitation of the global postal supply chain, and to mitigating the outbreak’s overall impact on our societies.

As a result of COVID-19’s impact on the aviation industry, a large portion of international mail has had to be shifted from air to surface transportation, such as sea and land (road and rail). As a result, some Customs authorities may now be confronted with postal documentation intended for other modes of transport at land border ports due to the need to reroute postal traffic. Therefore, Customs administrations were encouraged to be flexible and accept postal shipments with any of the accompanying legitimate UPU documentation (e.g. CN 37 (for surface mail), CN 38 (for airmail) or CN 41 (for surface airlifted mail) delivery bills).

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