The General Postal Treaty

General Postal Treaty Organisation
P.O. Box 876, Auckland, New Zealand 1140. e-mail: icis.hq@gmail.com

THE GENERAL POSTAL TREATY

first established between the Sultanate of Occussi-Ambeno and the Republic of Mevu in 1972; adapted in a shortened version by the General Postal Treaty Organisation which was established as a specialised agency of the International Council of Independent States on 1st June 1984.

§ A. General:

1. Every country or postal administration ready to accept the contents and principles of this treaty and any subsequent treaty established in accordance with this treaty, may sign it, and then become an equal partner of this treaty and the postal co-operation established due to it.

§ B. Permanent Bodies:

1. There is to be established a permanent committee, to be known as the Permanent Postal Co-ordinating Committee, hereafter referred to as PPCC.

2. PPCC consists of one member of each signing party of this treaty, appointed by the respective Government or Postal Administration.

3. The seat of PPCC is to be at the headquarters of the International Council of Independent States, of which the General Postal Treaty Organisation is a specialised agency as set out in Section 7 of the ICIS Charter.

4. The task of the PPCC is to co-ordinate the postal co-operation, according to this treaty, by –

(a) Work out forms required;

(b) Act as the signing parties' representative towards other organisations at conferences and by negotiations on postal matters;

(c) Be solely responsible for negotiations with countries or postal administrations applying for the right to sign this treaty;

(d) Co-ordinate the exchange of mail; and

(e) Making such rules and regulatiojs as shall be found necessary for the operation of the postal co-operation, and as provided by this treaty.

5. PPCC is to have its own secretariat, the Permanent Postal Co-ordinating Office, hereafter referred to as PPCO.

6. The signing parties shall provide PPCC with such funds as shall be requested to enable it to fulfill its tasks according to this treaty, after regulations made by PPCC under provisions of this treaty.

7. All mail in the nature of advices shall be sent to PPCC / PPCO free of charge, provided that private persons writing to PPCC / PPCO must still pay full rates of postage.

§ C. Conveyance of Mail:

(a) Mail from one country to another is transported free within the country of destination, as is mail in transit, if the country of origin and/or the country of destination is a party to this treaty.

(b) Transit and transport of letters not mentioned in (a) must be paid by the country of origin.

(c) (a) does not apply to packets conveyance. This has to be paid by the country of origin after regulations set by PPCC under its inherent powers to it duly assigned by the parties hereof.

(d) Mail received from one party of this treaty, in transit from a non-party country, that is, bearing stamps of such a country, does not have to be accepted by the other signing parties, neither for delivery within their borders nor in transit. If accepted for delivery, the addressee may be taxed.

(e) (a) does also apply to registered and insured mail.

(a) Mail is transported in sealed bags (sacs) from the GPOs by couriers to a handling agency in a UPU-country.

(b) Mail is sent from the bureaux mentioned in (a) either by ordinary post, or by special agreements with transportation firms, directly to another handling agency.

3. (a) A feuille d'avis (Mailsac Despatch Tag) must be included in every despatch, giving the following information:

Sending Post-Office;

Destination Post-Office;

Any mail in transit and its destination;

Date of despatch;

Number of despatch;

Routing of despatch;

Number of registered and insured items, with their numbers, addressees, and bureaux of origin;

Total number of mailsacs in the despatch.

(b) The exact design of the feuille d'avis (Mailsac Despatch Tag) is to be approved by the PPCC.

(c) Mailsac Despatch Tags should be datestamped by the destination Post-Office upon arrival. Tags received should be accumulated and sent at least quarterly to the GPTO, which will prepare statistical reports on mail for the benefit of the parties to this treaty.

4. Undelivered mail is to be returned to the postal administration in the country of origin, free, according to 1 of this Section.

§ D. Postal Rates:

1. General principles:

(a) The rates are to be standardised.

(b) The rates given in this treaty are based on an amount of money, the Postal Unit, hereafter referred to as PU, equal to the rate for a printed-matter item in national traffic, first weight-rate, and

(c) The exact equivalent of the PU is to be set by each signing party, to be approved by PPCC.

2. Table of rates:

(remainder to follow)

Registered Mail Procedure.

1988 definitive, Kr. 8.75. 2000, $1.35 definitive showing a monarch butterfly chrysalis. 2000, 75 cents definitive, showing a beautiful monarch butterfly. Peace Campaign, 45 cents.