Union postale universelle Universal Postal Union |
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The UPU flag |
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| Org type | UN agency |
| Acronyms | UPU |
| Head | Edouard Dayan |
| Status | Active |
| Established | October 9, 1874 |
| Headquarters | Bern, Switzerland |
| Website | www.upu.int |
The Universal Postal Union (UPU, French: Union postale universelle) is an international organization that coordinates postal policies among member nations, in addition to the worldwide postal system. The UPU contains four bodies consisting of the Congress, the Council of Administration (CA), the Postal Operations Council (POC) and the International Bureau (IB). It also oversees two cooperatives including the Telematics and EMS Cooperatives respectively. Each member agrees to the same terms for conducting international postal duties. The UPU’s headquarters are located in Bern, Switzerland.[1]
French is the official language of the UPU. English was added as a working language in 1994. The majority of the UPU's documents and publications – including its flagship magazine, Union Postale - are available in the United Nations' official languages.[2]
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Prior to the establishment of the UPU, each country had to prepare a separate postal treaty with other nations it wished to carry international mail to or from. To simplify the complexity of this system, the United States called for an International Postal Congress in 1863. This led Heinrich von Stephan, Royal Prussian and later German Minister for Posts, to found the Universal Postal Union. It is currently the third oldest international organization after the Rhine Commission and the ITU. The UPU was created in 1874, initially under the name "General Postal Union", as a result of the Treaty of Bern signed on October 9, 1874. Four years later, the name was changed to "Universal Postal Union."[3]
The UPU established that:
One of the most important results of the UPU Treaty was that it ceased to be necessary, as it often had been previously, to affix the stamps of any country through which one's letter or package would pass in transit. The UPU provides that stamps of member nations are accepted for the entire international route.
After the foundation of the United Nations, the UPU became a specialized agency of the UN in 1948.[4] In 1969, the UPU introduced a new system of payment where fees were payable between countries according to the difference in the total weight of mail between them. These fees were called terminal dues. Ultimately, this new system was fairer when traffic was heavier in one direction than the other. As this affected the cost of the delivery of periodicals, the UPU devised a new "threshold" system, which it later implemented in 1991.[5]
The system sets separate letter and periodical rates for countries which receive at least 150 tons of mail annually. For countries with less mail, the original flat rate is still maintained. The United States has negotiated a separate terminal dues formula with thirteen European countries that includes a rate per piece plus a rate per kilogram; it has a similar arrangement with Canada. The UPU also operates the system of International Reply Coupons and addresses concerns with ETOEs.
Standards are important prerequisites for effective postal operations and for interconnecting the global network. The UPU's Standards Board develops and maintains a growing number of international standards to improve the exchange of postal-related information between postal operators. It also promotes the compatibility of UPU and international postal initiatives. The organization works closely with postal handling organizations, customers, suppliers and other partners, including various international organizations. The Standards Board ensures that coherent regulations are developed in areas such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), mail encoding, postal forms and meters. UPU standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in Part V of the “General information on UPU Standards”[7] and are published by the UPU International Bureau in accordance with Part VII of that publication.
The United Nations member states are all allowed to become members of the UPU. A non-member state of the United Nations may also become a member if two-thirds of the UPU member countries approve its request.
Member states of the UPU are 193 of the UN members and the Vatican City. The newest member is South Sudan, which joined on 4 October 2011.
The non-state members are Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten, which are represented as a single UPU member,[8] and the British overseas territories, which are represented as a single UPU member. The UPU currently has 192 members (190 states and 2 joint memberships of dependent territories groups).
Palestine was granted special observer status to the UPU in 1999, and in 2008 Israel agreed for its mail to be routed through Jordan.[9][10] Palestine will likely be upgraded to full membership in the near future.[11]
Non-members of UPU are Andorra, Cook Islands, Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Niue, Palau and the rest of the states with limited recognition. Cook Islands and Niue are represented by New Zealand (they are in free association with it). Andorra, Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau have their mail delivered through another UPU member (the United States for the Compact of Free Association states and France and Spain for Andorra.[12]
The Republic of China joined the UPU on March 1, 1914. After the People's Republic of China was founded, the Republic of China continued to represent China in the UPU, until the organization decided on April 13, 1972 to recognize the People's Republic of China as the only legitimate Chinese representative. Because of this, International Reply Coupons are not available for Taiwan. Mail addressed to Taiwan is still delivered there, albeit through a third country.
The other states with limited recognition such as Somaliland and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) also route their mail through third countries because the UPU will not allow direct international deliveries. For example, the TRNC's mail goes via Turkey and Somaliland's mail via Ethiopia).
The Universal Postal Congress is the most important body of the UPU. The main purpose of the quadrennial Congress is to examine proposals to amend the Acts of the UPU, including the UPU Constitution, General Regulations, Convention and Postal Payment Services Agreement. The Congress also serves as forum for participating member countries to discuss a broad range of issues impacting international postal services, such market trends, regulation and other strategic issues. The first UPU Congress was held in Bern, Switzerland in 1874. Delegates from 22 countries participated. UPU Congresses are held every four years and delegates often receive special philatelic albums produced by member countries covering the period since the previous Congress.
The Universal Postal Union, in conjunction with the World Association for the Development of Philately, developed the WADP Numbering System (WNS). It was launched on January 1, 2002. The website[13] displays entries for some 160 countries and emitting postal entities, with over 25,000 registered stamps since 2002. Many of them have images, which generally remain copyrighted by the issuing country, but the UPU and WADP permit them to be downloaded.
In some countries telegraph and later telephones came under the same government department as the postal system. Similarly there was a International Telegraph Bureau, based in Bern, akin to the UPU. [14]
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