May 31, 2005 -- The Gravure Association of America announced today that Bill Martin has joined the Association as Executive Vice President. Martin will be responsible for all GAA operations.

May 31, 2005 -- The Association for Postal Commerce (PostCom) has filed comments with  the U.S. Postal Service on the development of phase two of its Transformation Plan.

May 31, 2005 -- The BBC has reported that "At the world's biggest annual print media gathering, organised by the World Association of Newspapers (WAN), speakers were upbeat about the prospects for print. Newspaper circulation rose slightly in 2004, according to the newspaper body. But the industry still faces many challenges from new media, some 1,300 delegates were told. Despite the incredible competitive challenges in the advertising market, newspapers have more than held their own and their revenues are strongly on the increase again. Speakers cautioned against complacency, predicting that free papers, online news sites, and the spread of blogs and other non-mainstream news sources would put growing pressure on the readership of traditional newspapers."

May 31, 2005 -- The KosovoReport has noted that "Kosovo will adopt a set of new zip codes on Tuesday in a bid to speed up postal deliveries which have been slow and arduous in recent years due to a lack of clarity over the U.N.-run provinces status. Kosovos capital, Pristina, will now use 10000 as its new code instead of the old Yugoslav code of 38000. The new codes were approved by the U.N. legal office in Kosovo, said Seremb Gjergji, spokesman for Kosovos Post and Telecom." Kosovo is a U.N. protectorate.

May 31, 2005 -- From the PR Newswire: "Firstlogic Inc., a leading global provider of enterprise information quality software, and Powerdata Iberica, supplier of information technology and services for data integration platforms, today announced a distribution agreement that brings Firstlogic data quality software to the Iberian Peninsula. Effective immediately, the strategic distribution alliance authorizes Powerdata Iberica to sell, install, and provide in-region support for Firstlogic technology in Spain and Portugal. With Firstlogic technology, organizations better manage the information assets already stored in their corporate computing environment, delivering benefits such as a single view of the customer, easy relationship building between customers and overall better service to customers."

May 31, 2005 -- The Albany Business Review has reported that the "Postal Service has warned it may drop the AuthentiDate postmark if revenue doesn't rise. The AuthentiDate management team, led by new CEO Suren Pai, has been working to recast the electronic postmark as a solutions-based system, to accelerate development of the market for the product. The company and the Postal Service have continued to develop the EPM business using this strategy, and in April launched a new service to authenticate and verify paper documents received via fax."

May 31, 2005 -- The Postal Rate Commission has published on its web site "Rules Applicable to Renew or Modify Previously Recommended Negotiated Service Agreements" (Docket No. RM2005-3).

May 31, 2005 -- The DM Bulletin has reported that:

• Postal regulator Postcomm has awarded Racer Consultancy Management Services a licence to operate bulk mail, consolidation and tracked business-to-business services.

• Royal Mail has condemned Postcomm calls for a domestic price freeze at Royal Mail from April 2006 to March 2010 as part of a raft of proposals on the future of the state-owned service. The postal regulator, which has opened a three-month consultation on the proposals, says the freeze will benefit customers and at the same time allow Royal Mail to make a regulatory profit of around £285m a year as well as continue to address its £4.5bn pension black hole. The plans, unveiled in the review 'Royal Mail's Price and Service Quality Regulation from 2006 - Initial Proposals', also call for a revised set of customer service targets.

May 31, 2005 -- If you do business from Canada or to Canada, you might want to check the latest from the National Association of Major Mail Users (NAMMU).

May 31, 2005 -- The Ottawa Citizen has reported that "It's only a 10-centimetre obstacle -- about four inches, for those who still think that way -- but as far as Canada Post is concerned, Christine Charbonneau's front porch step could be the Rocky Mountains. Ms. Charbonneau is being threatened with having mail delivery to her Orleans home cancelled because, according to Canada Post, her steps are too dangerous for a postal carrier to negotiate -- never mind that her elderly mother-in-law has no problems making the climb. Under the national building code, a step can rise a maximum of 20 centimetres. But when Ms. Charbonneau went to check her mailbox on Friday, she discovered a Canada Post employee measuring her front step. The man explained that at 30 centimetres, the single step at her St. Jerome Crescent home is too high for safety. He said the mail could be stopped because of it."

May 31, 2005 -- The World Today has reported that "A group of disgruntled musicians wants to force Australia Post to change the way that it charges for delivering compact discs. Australia Post admits the charges can vary, but critics say that in recent years, the authority's windfall could have run into the millions of dollars."

May 31, 2005 -- A UNI Postal European delegation met with Internal Market Commissioner, Charlie McCreevy in Brussels on 26 May 2005 to discuss the development of postal services in Europe. The discussions included the recent report from the Commission on "the Application of the Postal Directive" and current ongoing Commission studies on " Evolution of the Regulatory Model for European postal services" and "Development of Competition in the European Postal Sector". John Pedersen, Head of UNI Postal emphasised the importance of the universal postal service, the obligation to provide it, the proper financing of it and negative impacts of experiments trying to diminish the universal postal service definition particularly on citizens, regional development and the cohesion of society as well as the importance of securing uniform tariffs within the whole territory.

May 31, 2005 -- The Jamaica Observer has reported that "The Montego Bay police had to be called in to remove mail contractors, protesting the non-renewal of their contracts, from the premises of the Montego Bay Number One Post Office yesterday morning. OMEALLY-NELSON... 25 contracts not renewed islandwide The three workers, one of whom had 40 years of service, used motor vehicles to block the entrance to the post office. Supporters of the postal workers, some of whom had been employed by the men who lost their contracts, which had been tendered, came out in support of the protest."

May 30, 2005 -- The Anchorage Daily News has reported that "Standing inside a cavernous mail-sorting plant at the Anchorage airport over the weekend, Sen. Ted Stevens and a top official of the U.S. Postal Service unveiled a new device designed to test letters in Alaska for anthrax. The Biohazard Detection System at the mail-processing plant on Postmark Drive is just one of many such systems being installed around the country in a billion-dollar effort to prevent anthrax attacks using the U.S. mail like the ones the nation saw in 2001."

May 30, 2005 -- Yonhap News has reported that "South Korea said Monday it has agreed with Cambodia to forge closer cooperation in the information and technology (IT) sector as well as postal service links. The agreement was reached between visiting Cambodian Minister of Posts and Telecommunications So Khun and South Korean Information and Communication Minister Chin Dae-je on the sidelines of the Asian-Pacific Postal Union (APPU) conference in Seoul, the Korean ministry said in a statement. Among the areas of cooperation discussed was a South Korean proposal to narrow the gap between those with privileged access and knowledge of IT systems and those without, as well as developing infrastructure and human resources in Cambodia, according to the statement."

May 30, 2005 -- The Nikkei news service has reported that "Heizo Takenaka, minister in charge of privatization of the postal services, on Monday told a lower house ad-hoc committee that the postal savings bank will have a capital adequacy ratio of 13-18% after privatization. The ratio is well above the 8% required under Bank for International Settlements rules for banks operating overseas."

May 30, 2005 -- The Belfast Telegraph has reported that "Royal Mail is set to lose some of its biggest and most lucrative customers with a string of government departments, high street banks and insurers preparing to defect to rival postal operators. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the Inland Revenue and several large banks are understood to be close to switching from Royal Mail to one of the new breed of competitors which have moved in after the liberalisation of the £5.8bn postal market."

May 30, 2005 -- The Hindu Business Line has reported that "THE Government has roped in global consultants KPMG to prepare a report on restructuring the postal network across the country. The mandate given to KPMG includes identifying new areas of business. The idea behind this corporate restructuring is to wipe out the Rs 1,400-crore deficit of the Department of Posts. KPMG will also review the pricing of postal products and services and sustainability of loss-making and unpopular products."

May 29, 2005 -- The Journal of Commerce has reported that "The express delivery industry directly contributed $64 billion to the global economy in 2003, double that of electrical appliance manufacturers, and half again as much as shipbuilders, according to the Global Express Association. The industry has grown twice as fast as the global economy since 1998. It provided 2.65 million jobs in 2003, and the total is likely to grow to 4.5 million by 2013, the report found. Brussels-based GEA, which represents global couriers FedEx Corp., UPS, DHL and TNT, commissioned the 44-page report by Oxford Economic Forecasting of Oxford, England."

May 29, 2005 -- The top 50 trucking companies increased their total revenue to $70.5 billion last year, up $7.4 billion and more than 11 percent from 2003, as measured by SJ Consulting Group for Traffic World.

May 29, 2005 -- La Cronica de Hoy has reported that "the Mexican Postal Service has warned deputies of all the political parties that are not in a position to guarantee the security nor secrecy of votes by mail that orginate outside of Mexico. Gonzalo Alarcón, director of the Mexican Postal Service, detailed before the deputies the series of limitations that would face the organization to make good on 4 million votes by mail during the presidential election of the next year." See also Diario de Mexico.

May 29, 2005 -- Making Money (U.K.) has reported that "Specialist business services franchise Mail Boxes Etc (UK) has joined forces with DX Services plc to provide a revolutionary new service for business post and the UK's first true alternative to the Royal Mail. MBE's 96 high street one-stop centres will also now be home to DX's mail services, where customers can post their sealed mail for delivery next day to business addresses across the UK. There is also an option for barcode tracking for high priority items that need a signature on receipt. The announcement of the launch with DX was first made at MBE's annual conference in Warwick in May and was well received by an enthusiastic audience of franchisees."

May 29, 2005 -- According to Morningstar, "Dutch postal and logistics giant TNT NV will exchange a total of EUR354 million of its 5.125% bond due December 2008 for EUR400 million of new bonds due 2015. TNT said that the purpose of the exchange offer was to refinance its existing bonds and reduce repayments in 2008, as well as to lengthen the company's debt maturity profile."

May 29, 2005 -- The Charlotte News-Observer has reported that "Direct mail -- the industry's preferred term for the promotional material that shows up in your mailbox, whether it be a personalized letter or a grocery store flier -- is becoming more popular with advertisers. Businesses have more options than ever for their marketing dollars, and many are rethinking their ad strategies to consider newer alternatives, such as the Internet. But direct mail is thriving in this hyper-competitive environment. The No. 1 reason for its growth is the federal Do Not Call law, said Robert J. Coen, senior vice president and ad industry forecasting guru at Universal McCann in New York. With consumers now able to block unwanted sales calls by registering their phone numbers, advertisers are turning to direct mail to reach customers where they live."

May 29, 2005 -- The New York Times has reported that:

• State officials have joined colleagues from around the nation in persuading the major credit card companies to stop processing payments for online cigarette sales. Additionally, the state has enacted a law prohibiting the shipment of cigarettes to its residents and banned private carriers, like FedEx, from shipping cigarettes. But as state officials fight illegal online cigarette sales, one operation is not falling into line - the United States Postal Service, which officials say delivers the bulk of illegally purchased cigarettes to New Yorkers. The Postal Service, citing concerns about the privacy of the mail and wary of putting postal clerks in the position of deciding which packages to accept and which to reject, is resisting the growing calls that it stop shipping cigarettes.

• Anyone who wants to know which way the economy is going can read the unemployment figures, the Consumer Price Index or other tea leaves emanating from Washington. Or call FedEx. "We know a lot about how the economy really is doing, and Federal Reserve officials call us all the time," Frederick W. Smith, chief executive of FedEx, said during a recent visit to The New York Times.

May 29, 2005 -- The Sunday Business Post (Ireland) has reported that "Arcane trade union practices are threatening An Post's potentially profitable bulk mail business, according to company management. Direct marketing mail increased by 22 per cent last year, as traditional postal services declined. Last week, An Post began an investigation into the dumping of bulk mail in a ditch by postal staff in Co Meath."

May 29, 2005 -- The Independent (U.K.) has reported that "Alan Johnson, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, has pledged to reject plans to part-privatise the Royal Mail. The claim is made by Billy Hayes, the general secretary of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), who met Mr Johnson on Tuesday. The news comes after weeks of speculation that Mr Johnson was warming to Royal Mail proposals to turn the state-owned business into a John Lewis-style partnership. But Mr Hayes said: "Alan Johnson said that the Government would stick to the manifesto commitment and keep Royal Mail in the public sector. He said that he had no plans to renege on that."

May 29, 2005 -- The Observer (U.K.) has reported that "A row is set to break out this week as the postal services watchdog Postwatch accuses Royal Mail of misleading the industry's financial regulator. The charge comes days before the regulator Postcomm publishes its initial proposals on how much Royal Mail can charge for deliveries for the three years beginning next spring. Postwatch, whose relations with Royal Mail under chairman Allan Leighton have been strained since it advised customers not to use first- class post over the Christmas rush, claims Royal Mail exaggerated the threat it faced from competition in order to get a lenient regulatory settlement last time around, in 2003. The dispute focuses on forecasts made by Royal Mail for mail volumes, a key driver of its profits, which it said would suffer from the introduction of competition."

May 29, 2005 -- The Scotsman (U.K.) has reported that "ROYAL Mail is lobbying politicians on its cost-cutting plans to head off the prospect of a mass closure of rural post offices. Chief executive Adam Crozier has begun negotiations with government on the future of the £150m-a-year subsidy which keeps the rural network afloat. He has warned that if the funding is stopped when the current package runs out in 2008 he will be forced to close 80% of the UK's 8,000 rural post offices. To slash the running costs, Crozier is proposing to replace some rural outlets with mobile post offices, while other small post offices will be merged."

May 29, 2005 -- According to the Los Angeles Daily News, "The Internet has a funny way of colonizing other forms of communication. Already, VoIP, or voice over Internet protocol, may be on its way to destroying the traditional long-distance phone business by routing calls from regular telephones over the Internet. Similarly, letters and faxes are being replaced by e-mail. Bills increasingly arrive electronically and are paid the same way. Net-friendly digital photographs are pushing aside film. Music downloading, legal and otherwise, is already big and will only spread. The big retailer's decision to abandon the field to Netflix says something about many other businesses that depend on the delivery of information in some physical format. Newspapers, books and magazines, for instance, are still delivered on paper, but eventually many publishers are likely to dispense entirely with paper and ink to deliver materials electronically, to readers who are freed from their desks by wireless networks and portable magazine-sized tablets with vivid screens. There have been several false starts, but the long-term trend is nonetheless clear. The day may come when not only DVDs by mail but traditional mail itself becomes obsolete."

May 29, 2005 -- The Korea Times has reported that "More than 200 postal experts from 25 countries of Asia and the Pacific will meet in Seoul this week to share information about increasing postal service efficiency in the region at the the 9th Congress of the Asian-Pacific Postal Union (APPU). APPU is an organization established in 1962 to boost regional cooperation in postal services and postal service development. It is based in Bangkok, Thailand, and has 29 member countries in the region."

May 29, 2005 -- The San Francisco Chronicle has noted that "For millions of Americans, point-and-click banking has become as natural as stepping up to an ATM, talking to a human teller or writing a paper check. But for every Internet-banking disciple out there, at least one holdout vows never to bank online, recent industry research shows. Many nonusers say they're skittish about personal privacy and the security of their financial data, concerns that pose barriers to banks competing to lure business to the Internet. Online-banking customers are valuable catches. They rack up comparatively lower transaction costs for banks in part because they typically make fewer trips to branches and place fewer calls to call centers. They eliminate paper waste and postage costs by viewing account statements and canceled checks online, banks and researchers said. Perhaps more significantly, customers who bank online show more loyalty to banks than customers who don't. They tend to stay with an institution longer and buy more services such as business loans and home mortgages. Cross-selling a range of services to customers boosts profits."

May 29, 2005 -- CNET News has reported that "Radio frequency identification is becoming increasingly popular inside the U.S. government, but agencies have not seriously considered the privacy risks, federal auditors said. Few privacy concerns exist when RFID is used merely to track warehouse pallets. But when RFID chips are embedded in ID cards or otherwise linked to personal information, the GAO warned, the privacy risks increase dramatically. California's Senate this month approved a ban on the use of RFID tags in driver's licenses and other state-issued forms of identification. If you're caught in the web of identity theft and want to hand the whole problem over to someone else, some insurance companies offer what they call a restoration or resolution service. They provide either a specialist who guides you through the credit maze, or someone who actually does the work, such as filing police reports and contacting credit agencies."

May 29, 2005 -- The New York Times has noted that "IT'S hard not to be frightened by identity theft these days, no matter how diligent you are. It seems as if tales of woe are everywhere: the stolen credit card, the compromised Social Security number, the lost wages. It may not come as a surprise that the insurance industry has found an eager market for a timely product: identity theft insurance."

May 28, 2005 -- The latest issue of the PostCom Bulletin is available online. In this issue: A study by the Envelope Manufacturers Association's Institute for Postal Studies examines the economics behind each of the government's postal reform proposals. Sam Ryan of the Lexington Institute says the Postal Service wouldn't need to saddle Americans with yet another rate increase if the U.S. government would privatize the USPS, and throw open the market to competition. USPS financial results ahead of plan. ETOES warned not to use USPS equipment, documentation. Federal Register: Address sequencing rule. PostCom bestows Woodruff Award on five deserving member companies. UPS, pilots keep talking. BMG Direct to acquire Columbia House. Database marketing webinar set for June 15. Labour will back Royal Mail sale to staff, Tories won't. Canada Post unit provides help to break down barriers to Canadian market. British Postcomm sets licensing rules for 2006. Japan's lower house sets special committee. French postal liberalization law reported. Hey! You've not been getting the weekly PostCom Bulletin--the best postal newsletter anywhere...bar none?  Send us by email your name, company, company title, postal and email address. Get a chance to see what you've been missing.

 
Who handles the distribution of the PostCom Bulletin?
 Why, it's NETGRAM, of course. Read more about it.

May 28, 2005 -- Be sure to check out what's new on the Pitney Bowes PostInsight web site. Among some items of interest: "An Post: A New Vision" and PostEurop presentations.

May 28, 2005 -- AMEInfo has reported that "Emirates Post, the official postal authority of the UAE, is set to sponsor Direct Marketing 2005, the region's first dedicated conference for the direct marketing industry that will be held from June 11-15, 2005 at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Dubai."

May 28, 2005 -- Le Figaro (France) has reported that "As part of the Bordeaux public prosecutor's investigation into the 24-hour seizure of five managers of a mail sorting office in Begles in south-western France, the five French post office (La Poste) union representatives who carried out the alleged offence were taken into police custody yesterday. The head of the sorting office and four of its managerial staff were held prisoner by the unionists for almost 24hrs in protest against La Poste's plans to shed 48 jobs at the site." 

May 28, 2005 -- The Associated Press of Pakistan has reported that "Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Friday said the government will provide all support and resources to Pakistan Postal Service to enable it provide better and more efficient service to the people."

May 27, 2005 -- According to DM News postal commentator Cary Baer, "the U.S. Postal Service spends more than $6 billion annually, more than GM, for healthcare. A simple calculation shows that 3 cents of the price of every First-Class stamp goes to pay healthcare costs. And, like most companies, postal healthcare costs are rising around 10 percent annually. But, unlike the automobile industry, legislation currently in place does not permit the USPS to negotiate any of the terms of the healthcare coverage it provides. Yet, despite its obvious importance, none of the reform bills in Congress give the postal service the ability to negotiate, with its unions, changes to healthcare coverage. Congress apparently believes the USPS has some magical means to address healthcare costs."

May 27, 2005 -- From the BusinessWire: "AuthentiDate Holding Corp. has announced that its ongoing discussions with the United States Postal Service regarding the status of its Strategic Alliance Agreement had reached a critical stage with the receipt of a second notice from the Postal Service stating that it had failed to attain the performance metrics required by the Strategic Alliance Agreement during the period February 2005 through April 2005. The Strategic Alliance Agreement designates AuthentiDate as the preferred provider of the USPS Electronic Postmark(R) (EPM) service. At the time the agreement was signed, the parties agreed on certain performance metrics which, as previously reported, had not been attained.  Authentidate's new management team formulated and implemented a new solutions-based approach to accelerate development of the market for the USPS EPM. On May 17, 2005, Authentidate announced that the United States Postal Service has approved an updated version of the USPS Electronic Postmark(R) (USPS EPM) Service. The new version offers enhancements including an optional return-receipt capability that allows users to track delivery and acceptance of electronic content. In addition, users can now sign-up for a USPS EPM Service account using a username and password, eliminating the need to use digital certificates. In spite of these recent successful joint efforts by Authentidate and the USPS, the parties have been unable so far to agree on new performance metrics."

May 27, 2005 -- The latest copy of the National Association of Postmasters of the U.S. electronic governmental affairs newsletter is available on the NAPUS web site.

May 27, 2005 -- From the PR Newswire: "The U.S. Postal Service has been honored with four awards recognizing excellence in the postal sector at the sixth annual World Mail Awards event held recently in Brussels, Belgium. Acknowledged as leaders in customer service, innovation, e-Commerce and security, the Postal Service was cited as setting the highest standard for the mailing industry. Two of the four awards presented to the Postal Service went to the organization's Intelligent Mail and Address Quality team. In the e-Commerce category, the USPS marketing group's online service offering, Click-N-Ship, was recognized. The Postal Service's Inspection Service received the security award for its multi-media awareness campaign that educated customers about mail-related crimes."

May 27, 2005 -- Be sure to check out http://www.grcdi.nl/. This site, built and maintained by Graham Rhind, contains the most complete postal code and address resource list available on the Internet, provided free since 1995. You can also find out about unique books, software, data and other resources to provide you with everything you need to know to effectively manage your international data.

May 27, 2005 -- Well....Will there be a House vote on a postal reform bill in June or won't there? Usually informed sources have noted that there has been no floor time scheduled thus far to consider H.R. 22 in either June or July.

May 27, 2005 -- CEP News (Courier-Express-Postal) has reported that:

• This year's first quarter was marked by a decline in turnover and returns for the core business areas of Norway's Posten. First and second class letters dropped by 11.8% compared to 2004. Unaddressed advertising mail on the other hand increased by 8.4% in volume. The most significant drop occurred in banking transactions, where the post noted a minus of almost 16%.

• An ever increasing number of consignments have gone missing since Deutsche Post began outsourcing transport services. The German news magazine "Der Spiegel" reports that the prosecution service is conducting inquiries involving suspected members of staff. The magazine quotes the case of the Munich-based company Dividi Entertainment, which operates an online film rental service where DVD's are delivered and returned by post.

• "We want to be a bank like any other". This statement from Patrick Werner, head of the French La Poste's financial services division, has fuelled the ongoing conflict between the post and the French banks further. The French parliament had previously passed legislation, which facilitates the foundation of the new post bank, which is expected to be set up on 1 January 2006 at the latest. Established French banks have announced legal action against La Poste's plans.

• The conflict between Switzerland's Schweizerische Post and the trade unions over the outsourcing of postal services to subsidiary companies, which erupted last autumn, has been resolved. This Tuesday, the post announced that a wage agreement had been reached with "Kommunikation" and "transfair" and that the three parties would sign a collective agreement for outsourced business divisions as well as a first follow-up agreement for SecurePost AG "in the next few days".

• Sweden's regulatory authority PTS (Post & Telestyrelsen) wants to put an end to postmen and women having to climb stairs. PTS proposes that all apartment blocks be equipped with letter boxes at entrance level by 1 January 2010.

• GO! Austria has reinforced its East European commitment. Since the beginning of May, the company has run an over-night service from Austria to destinations outside of major cities and urban areas in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. The maximum transmission time is said to be 24 hours. Destinations throughout Slovenia are served the following working day.

• Schweizerische Post is reorganising its goods transport services and wants to use a new market approach to focus more on customers. Last Friday the company confirmed that PaketPost, ExpressPost, SwissPost NET, ParcelLogistics, Setz Gutertransport and BTL Logistics services would be bundled in the logistics business division.

Don't be satisfied with a less than complete report on the courier, express, and postal market in Europe. Get your subscription to CEP News, today..

May 27, 2005 -- The Waterford News & Star (Ireland) has reported that "Postal code system should facilitate new entrants into the postal sector, leading to greater efficiencies, improved next day delivery and reduced costs. That’s according to ISME, the Independent Business Organisation, which has welcomed the decision by Minister for Communications, Noel Dempsey T.D. to introduce postal codes into the Irish postal services. ISME feels it should improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the service, which has been wholly inefficient over the last number of years."

May 27, 2005 -- The New York Times has reported that "The Senate Intelligence Committee failed to reach final agreement on Thursday on a proposal that would expand the Federal Bureau of Investigation's powers to demand records and monitor mailings in terror investigations, but officials said they were confident that the committee would come to a consensus on the issue. In addition to making many of the act's powers permanent, the proposal would expand the F.B.I.'s ability to subpoena records in terror cases and would give it sole discretion, without the approval of the Postal Service, to copy the outside of letters and mailings involving people with suspected links to intelligence investigations."

May 27, 2005 -- The Financial Times has reported that "Brazil's Congress launched an inquiry yesterday into an alleged corruption scheme at the postal service involving party leaders in President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's governing coalition. Video footage surfaced last week allegedly showing the head of purchasing at the state post office accepting money and bragging about kickbacks he said financed the Brazilian Workers party (PTB)."

May 27, 2005 -- The Japan Times has reported that "The House of Representatives began deliberations Thursday on the contentious postal privatization bills at a plenary session despite the major opposition parties' continued boycott of sessions in protest of the reform package. Prime Minister Koizumi told the Lower House that postal privatization would not lead to closing post offices or reducing the number of postal workers. He said it was aimed at directing 340 trillion yen from postal savings and life insurance plans to the private sector and putting postal services on an equal footing with private firms." See also the Nikkei news service.

May 27, 2005 -- Traffic World has noted that "Shippers struggling with ballooning expenses and tightening capacity are hunting for any way to cut costs."

May 27, 2005 -- The Journal of Commerce has reported that "UPS and its pilots union have agreed to another round of federally mediated contract talks the week of June 13 in Washington." See also the Atlanta Business Journal.

May 26, 2005 -- From PrimeZone Media Network: "CapSource Financial, Inc. has announced that it has appointed Wayne Hoovestol to its Board of Directors. Mr. Hoovestol, age 47, is President and Chief Executive Officer of Hoovestol, Inc., a long-haul trucking company headquartered in Eagan, Minnesota which specializes in providing trucking services to the U.S. Postal Department."

May 26, 2005 -- From the PR Newswire: "Experian(R), a global information solutions company, today announced the integration of its Data Management solutions with the QAS QuickAddress suite of applications. The integration enables organizations to maintain accurate and up-to-date address information about their customers, first at the point of initial customer interaction as it is captured in the call center or via an Internet site, and secondly, on a continuous basis through the utilization of Experian's suite of Data Management solutions. Experian acquired QAS Ltd. in October 2004."

May 26, 2005 -- At this week's PostCom Board of Directors meeting and reception at the National Postal Museum, the following companies were honored as recipients of PostCom's "Stan Woodruff Award" for the extraordinary and meritorious services they've rendered to the Association for Postal Commerce: NetGram, R.R. Donnelley, D&B, Pitney Bowes, and Draft Worldwide. Congratulations!!

May 26, 2005 -- The Wall Street Journal has reported that "The U.S. economy grew faster in the first quarter than first believed, partly because Americans didn't increase their foreign purchases as much as previously thought. Corporate-profit growth slowed sharply in the first three months of 2005 and inflation was slightly weaker than originally thought. Gross domestic product rose at a 3.5% annual rate January through March, the Commerce Department said Thursday in its first revision of economic growth for the quarter. GDP is a measure of all goods and services produced in the economy. The median estimate of 22 economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires and CNBC survey was for a 3.6% increase."

May 26, 2005 -- The Periodical Publishers Association (U.K.) has reported that "Postcomm has set out its detailed proposals for the licensing arrangements for postal operators once the market becomes fully liberalised in January 2006. According to the Regulator, the new licensing arrangements are designed to encourage new operators, while ensuring that customers can continue to have confidence in the market."

May 26, 2005 -- The Globe and Mail (Canada)  has noted that "Wall Street wasn't unduly surprised when United Parcel Service Inc. moved decisively into the less-than-truckload (LTL) business with the takeover of Overnite Corp. for $1.25-billion (U.S.) in cash. After all, UPS has been losing some market share to FedEx Corp. But will it be clear sailing from here for the company, especially in light of the lengthy and acrimonious history of Overnite and the Teamsters Union, the biggest and most storied union in the United States? And will the acquisition help reverse the decline in business for the boys in brown?"

May 26, 2005 -- The El Paso Times has reported that "Five hundred manufacturing jobs will be added to the El Paso economy with the Sahara Companies' expansion into the former Home Base building on the East Side. In addition to military chemical suits and Army combat uniforms, the company makes boxes for the U.S. Postal Service and private postal companies."

May 26, 2005 -- The Royal Gazette has laid out a number of steps associated with Bermuda's request for total independence from the U.K. Among the benefits: An independent Bermuda might give consideration to membership of the following UN Specialised Agencies such as the UPU (Universal Postal Union)."

May 26, 2005 -- From the PR Newswire: "Pitney Bowes Inc. has announced the successful completion of its acquisition of Imagitas, Inc. consistent with previously announced terms. Imagitas is a marketing services company that specializes in using the mail to help companies connect with hard to reach consumers. As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pitney Bowes, Imagitas will operate under essentially the same management as it does now within the company's Global Business Services segment."

May 26, 2005 -- The DM Bulletin (U.K.) has reported that "Trade and industry secretary Alan Johnson MP has suggested he may back controversial plans to sell off part of Royal Mail to its employees."

May 26, 2005 -- Reseller News has reported that "NZ POST subsidiary Datamail is broadening its operations in Australia by partnering with Connxion, an Australian document producer. David Allen, general manager of Datamail’s document solutions group, says the partnership allows Australian companies to print and lodge business documents in the New Zealand postal system. He says the company has been working with Connxion for some time and is now ready to go live with DHL."

May 26, 2005 -- As one Royal Mail spokesman told The Scotsman, "Like any large business we have our detractors and everyone remembers the problems more than the success, but the facts speak for themselves. In Scotland we have some of the best quality of service in the country. In the last quarter of the year, five Scottish postcode areas met or bettered the regulator’s target of 92.5 per cent. And even our three island postcodes, which are exempt from the target because of their remoteness, still perform well. We know we’re not perfect. We make mistakes, and every mistake is regrettable, but standards are increasing all the time. A very small number of letters goes astray, but it is fewer than when we started our recovery plan three years ago - now 99.92 percent of all letters arrive safely."

May 26, 2005 -- The Universal Postal Union's Direct Mail Advisory Board has produced its latest DMAB Update - May 2005, in English and French. It is sent to DMAB members and other stakeholders interested in Direct Mail activities at the Universal Postal Union. Those interested in receiving future copies should contact DMAB executive Raquel Ferrari. Reported in this issue: 

• The Brazilian Direct Marketing Association announced the winners of its annual Award, with winners in different categories and special prizes. Brazil Post has been sponsoring this Award for a number of years already, and the criteria for the competition are not only creativity and strategy, but mainly the actual results achieved in each Direct Marketing campaign.

• Saudi Post is just starting home delivery in Riyadh, a service soon to be extended to other parts of the country, using digital maps and dividing the Kingdom in eight main postal regions, which are again divided into postal districts and sub-districts to quickly locate the areas with the help of postal codes.

• Finland Post launched a renewal of its domestic letter mail, direct mail and publications services last March. Operations became easier, requirements are lower, and discounts for pre-sorting were introduced for their contract customers.

• The United States Postal Service has a new alternative service: Customized MarketMail service is a Direct Mail option that gives advertisers total freedom for their creativity by allowing them to send a truly dimensional mail piece of any shape or design.

• The UPU’s postal statistics are freely available on its website, www.upu.int. The database provides a dynamic overview of postal development in each country. It contains data from over 200 countries or territories and includes approximately 100 indicators of postal development, grouped in 12 chapters.

• The UPU is now conducting a survey, intended for all postal sector stakeholders (government bodies, public postal operators, regulators, other private operators, private operator associations, consumer associations, suppliers, international organizations, academic research institutes, and the media).

• The UPU Direct Mail Advisory Board is open for new members. Any Post can become a member, as well as companies and associations from the industry who have an interest in the development of Direct Mail markets worldwide. Members of the DMAB can participate in a number of activities programmed for the next four years, such as our development workshops, conferences and seminars, access to important information and research, and methods and tools we are going to develop to help posts measure their DM volume growth and quality of service.

May 26, 2005 -- The Wall Street Journal has reported that "In the terrorism fight, the government finds a surprising ally: FedEx. FedEx has opened the international portion of its databases, including credit-card details, to government officials. It has created a police force recognized by the state of Tennessee that works alongside the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The company has rolled out radiation detectors at overseas facilities to detect dirty bombs and donated an airplane to federal researchers looking for a defense against shoulder-fired missiles. Moreover, the company is encouraging its 250,000 employees to be spotters of would-be terrorists. It is setting up a system designed to send reports of suspicious activities directly to the Department of Homeland Security via a special computer link. FedEx's newfound enthusiasm for a frontline role in the war on terror shows how the relationship between business and government has changed in the past few years. In some cases, these changes are blurring the division between private commerce and public law enforcement."

May 26, 2005 -- The Associated Press has reported that "North Korea has prompted its latest flap with Japan by issuing new postage stamps of uninhabited islets claimed by both countries. Tokyo complained about the stamps in a fax to the North Koreans, who countered on Thursday that the complaint was ridiculous. Japan learned last week that the North had issued new stamps depicting the islands - called Tok-do in Korea and Takeshima in Japan - which are controlled by Japan but have been claimed for more than a half-century by North and South Korea. Both Koreas previously have issued such stamps. Tokyo immediately protested the most recent stamps in a fax to North Korea's Embassy in Beijing, after the North rejected Japan's request for a meeting on the matter, a Foreign Ministry official said."

May 26, 2005 -- Japan Today has reported that:

• The Diet began deliberations Thursday on a set of bills to privatize Japan Post, with the opposition camp boycotting the parliamentary session. In a House of Representatives plenary session, postal privatization minister Heizo Takenaka proposed the privatization as a reform aimed at boosting the economy through such outcomes as "freer management" of the some 350 trillion yen in funds amassed at Japan Post.

• Japan Post said Wednesday its operating revenue shriveled to 20,633.3 billion yen in fiscal 2004, down 16.1% from the previous year, as its three business divisions in charge of mail delivery, postal savings and postal life insurance fared poorly. In the business year ended in March, Japan Post made a net profit of 1,234.7 billion yen, down 46.4%.

May 26, 2005 -- The Billings Gazette has reported that "Stillwater Mining Co. presented a dozen palladium medals to Gov. Brian Schweitzer that he will use to reward the state employee who each month comes up with the best idea to make government more efficient.Among the state employees' suggestions so far are: Sending using bulk mail instead of normal postage. Using e-mail more to send materials to caseworkers instead of through the U.S. Postal Service at higher costs. Not mailing out pay stubs to state employees." See also the Helena Independent Record.

May 26, 2005 -- Gulf Times has reported that "PHILATELY is gaining in popularity in Qatar, General Postal Corporation chairman and chief executive Ali Mohamed al-Ali has said. The Q-Post chief was inaugurating the first ever auction of Qatari stamp albums, at the General Post Office on Tuesday."

May 26, 2005 -- The Evening Standard (U.K.) has reported that "The Royal Mail could be part-privatised into a John Lewis-style partnership, Trade and Industry Secretary Alan Johnson suggested today. Mr Johnson said the Government would not allow any sale of the business to outside shareholders but made clear he was " interested" in giving employees more ownership."

May 26, 2005 -- DM News has reported that:

• The U.S. Postal Service assured commercial mailers yesterday that they were in for no surprises on June 1 with the implementation of a new process for determining Standard mail eligibility. The USPS has encouraged its national customers to submit mail samples to the New York service center for advance rulings, with a goal of responding within 72 hours, said Greg Hall, USPS manager of customer rulings. A hotline to the New York service center is available to USPS business mail entry unit managers for guidance in eligibility disputes with mailers. Customer support rulings and announcements are available online at pe.usps.gov/dmmAdvisory.asp. That page includes a link, dated May 17, to a flow chart showing how eligibility decisions are made.

• The Direct Marketing Association is hearing that postal rates will increase as soon as Jan. 19 if things go according to plan, Jerry Cerasale, senior vice president of government affairs at the DMA, said yesterday. However, several factors still could influence that date, Cerasale said during a session on how to mail smarter at the Annual Catalog Conference, including the fact that several groups have raised concerns over settling the current expedited rate case, which would increase rates 5.4 percent across the board. Those groups include the American Postal Workers Union, the American Bankers Association, the Consumer Advocate of the Postal Rate Commission and Valpak.

May 26, 2005 -- CNN has reported that "Despite stiff government opposition, Brazil's Congress on Wednesday opened a broad investigation of corruption in the country's postal service. Allies of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva tried to block the probe, fearing it would stall Congressional votes on tax plans and other economic bills. The government has until midnight Wednesday to persuade lawmakers to withdraw their votes in favor of the probe. The investigation was sparked by revelations in the news weekly Veja that two businessmen, using a hidden camera, filmed themselves paying a 3,000 real ( U.S. $1,240) cash bribe to Mauricio Marinho, head of the postal service's department of contracts and administration."

May 26, 2005 -- Computing magazine has reported that "The Swedish postal service Posten is using embedded radio frequency identification (RFID) technology in parcels to cut down on internal theft. Posten, which has its headquarters in Stockholm, is testing the technology on high-value and confidential items such as mobile phones, computer equipment and government documents, as a way of detecting whether they have been tampered with. Specially-designed cardboard packaging from Swedish technology firm Cypak contains a microscopic chip and embedded RFID circuits that can store information about the package's origin, contents and journey. Posten uses RFID readers to enter data into the SecurePak parcel before dispatch, and then reads the data when the package has arrived at its destination to check for any suspicious activity."

May 26, 2005 -- The Financial Times (U.K.) has reported that "The Conservatives have signalled their opposition to the partial privatisation of the Royal Mail, increasing the political difficulty for the government of accepting the plan favoured by the group's management. Speaking to the Financial Times, David Willetts, the new shadow trade and industry secretary, said he was "sceptical" about the proposal to transfer a majority stake in the state-owned postal operator to its staff. He warned that the Royal Mail could end up being neither politically nor commercially accountable, in a "sort of limbo, where there's nobody putting them under pressure to perform".

May 26, 2005 -- The Irish Times has reported that "A new report, commissioned by four An Post unions, has rejected what it calls the "graveyard scenario" depicted by the company's management and questions the need for any further price rises. The report, written by economist Paddy Walley, accuses the company of seeking price increases "based on an obsolete view of mail". The unions claim that pricing should aim to grow mail volumes, rather than just trying to grow margins on static or declining volumes."

May 26, 2005 -- Dow Jones has reported that "Italy's Economy Ministry Wednesday named Vittorio Mincato, former chief executive of oil and gas giant Eni SpA (E), to head the state-owned postal company Poste Italiane SpA. "The nomination of Vittorio Mincato as chairman of the company was made also to ensure the privatization process is speedy and on track," the ministry said in a statement. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi this year said the government was working on selling shares in the postal company to the market in order to reduce Italy's huge debt." See also Il Sole 24 Ore.

May 26, 2005 -- The San Diego Union-Tribune has reported that "Brazil's Congress Wednesday gave initial approval to an investigation into allegations of corruption at the state postal service that could tarnish the government's image and stall its economic reforms."

May 26, 2005 -- Bloomberg has reported that "Brazil's Labor Party, the fourth biggest in President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's coalition, will stay in the government after a post office official denied Roberto Jefferson, the party leader, took part in any bribery scheme. Jefferson said last night that his party will withdraw its support for a congressional probe of an allegation the Labor Party's top-ranked members made suppliers pay bribes to do business with the government postal service."

May 26, 2005 -- The Journal of Commerce has reported that "DHL has announced the appointment of Hans Hickler as executive vice president of strategy and business implementation in the United States. Hickler, who was chief executive officer of APL Logistics until he resigned in April, will be responsible for the development and implementation of DHL's U.S. business strategy, in addition to overseeing the company's real estate, procurement, and internal consulting functions. He reports to John Mullen, chief executive of DHL Express Americas, Asia Pacific, and Emerging Markets."

May 26, 2005 -- From the Federal Register: "This final rule amends section 507.7 of the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM[reg]) to streamline the seed address process. It adopts a proposed rule that was published in the Federal Register (69 FR 64877, November 9, 2004.)."

May 25, 2005 -- The Associated Press has reported that "Democratic senators expressed skepticism of new powers the Bush administration is seeking in federal terrorism investigations, including authority to read the outside of mailed envelopes and to subpoena records without judicial approval."

May 25, 2005 -- The Financial Times (U.K.) has reported that:

• The Conservatives have signalled their opposition to the partial privatisation of the Royal Mail, increasing the political difficulty for the government of accepting the plan favoured by the group's management. Speaking to the Financial Times, David Willetts, the new shadow trade and industry secretary, said he was "sceptical" about the proposal to transfer a majority stake in the state-owned postal operator to its staff. He warned that the Royal Mail could end up being neither politically nor commercially accountable, in a "sort of limbo, where there's nobody putting them under pressure to perform".

• Governments need to consider mandatory investment accounts in reforming unsustainable pension systems that do not meet the needs of 21st century workforces, the World Bank said yesterday. "Many pension systems around the world will not be sustainable in the long run and will not provide the sustainability and security that will be required in the future."

May 25, 2005 -- The Asahi Shimbun (Japan) has reported that:

• Facing an opposition snub, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and coalition partner New Komeito decided Tuesday to postpone deliberations on postal reform in the Diet until Thursday. All the opposition parties had boycotted the Tuesday plenary session in which the government was to explain the controversial postal privatization bill. Even the Japanese Communist Party, the only opposition party that had previously agreed to discuss the bill in the Diet, dropped out of Tuesday's session at the last minute. Opposition Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) reconfirmed Tuesday its policy of staying away from postal-reform debate in the Diet.

• The Lower House is nearly set to start deliberations on a government-sponsored package of bills to privatize postal services. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has hinted he is prepared to dissolve the Lower House for a snap election if the package is voted down. His political offensive is directed mainly at opponents of postal reform within his own Liberal Democratic Party. Postal privatization is Koizumi's signature policy initiative, commanding the highest priority among all the planks on his political agenda. Despite the enormous importance of this initiative for the government, it remains unclear whether LDP members have to toe the party line in voting for the bills.

May 25, 2005 -- The DM Bulletin (U.K.) has reported that "The High Court has rejected an appeal by two mail order adult shops to end the prohibition of the sale of explicit videos except in stores. Lord Justice Maurice Kay and Mr Justice Newman said videos rated R18, the most explicit category covering hardcore porn, must continue to be sold face to face and not via catalogues, the web or over the phone."

May 25, 2005 -- According to The Star (Malaysia):

• The reclassification exercise of Pos Malaysia has varying degrees of impact on consumers. Categories like parcel, postcard and aerogramme and bulk letter (now called bulk mail) remain. The charges for the first two categories stay the same. Categories of letter, printed matter, and small packets are now repositioned as standard mail, non-standard mail and periodical. In effect, periodicals have taken over the categories of printed matter and small packets. Previously any size of letters was accepted as long as they were below and equal to 2kg. The new standard mail: 90mm by 140mm with a maximum of 165mm by 250mm (and thickness more than 0.25mm or below 6mm) in size, weighing less than and equal to 50g. Envelopes should also preferably be white or off-white, or non-glossy. The bottom 15mm zone must be left blank for printing bar codes. Non-standard: Any mail not under those parameters and weighing between 50g and 2kg.

• The Internet has not killed off snail mail: plenty of people still use the post office, as confirmed by two recent events. Case One is the postman who never rang once – let alone twice. He was found to have amassed thousands of letters not addressed to him, and convicted. Apart from wondering how many old-fashioned love letters and business contracts never got to waiting parties, one would also think it obvious that many people – despite the convenience of e-mail – still believe in licking envelopes and stamps. Case Two attests to the vital function of the Post Office: recently the public was shocked by the announcement on the reclassification of mail rates, followed by speedy implementation in a fortnight. The media has been bombarded with queries from worried users concerned about the damage to their pockets. The hike even left some Pos Malaysia staff in a state of mild confusion.

May 25, 2005 -- The Peninsula (Qatar) has reported that "The Qatar General Postal Corporation has come out with a novel way to congratulate Dar Al Sharq, publishers of Al Sharq and The Peninsula newspapers, for shifting to their new premises on the D Ring Road. The postal corporation has featured Al Sharq newspaper's front page and the new building on a personalised stamp. Al Sharq is the first Qatari newspaper to be on a postal stamp in the history of Posts and journalism in the country."

May 24, 2005 -- As the Irish Independent has noted, "plans to introduce a nationwide postal code system by 2008 have been welcomed by business lobbyists who say it will make the service more effective. However, Fine Gael communications spokesman Bernard Durkan said the system should only be brought in if there are benefits to consumers. Yesterday, Minister for Communications Noel Dempsey confirmed that the system would be introduced by the start of 2008."

May 24, 2005 -- From the Business Wire: "A comprehensive study of retail email practices conducted by Silverpop reveals that most marketers only need to make a few simple changes to leap ahead of competitors. Bill Nussey, CEO of Silverpop and author of the book "The Quiet Revolution in Email Marketing," released key findings from Phase I of the company's "Retail Email Marketing Study" at the Annual Catalog Conference held this week in Orlando, FL. The study also found that retail email marketers can improve how they encourage Web site visitors to sign up for emails with both stronger calls to action and better placement of registration requests. Fully one-quarter of the companies studied failed to offer even a simple explanation of benefits to incent visitors to sign up for emails. When a call to action was offered, 45 percent offered notices of sales and promotions and 14 percent offered news. An offer for a catalog or other type of direct mail was the incentive used by 11 percent of retailers studied."

May 24, 2005 -- Die Welt (Germany) has reported that "General Logistics Systems (GLS), the German parcel forwarding subsidiary of UK postal group Royal Mail, is threatening legal action against German postal operator Deutsche Post. GLS, formerly named German Parcel, is demanding access to the delivery service of Deutsche Post as part of a plan to expand into letter deliveries. It argues that the discounts allowed by the postal service operator to rivals for the consignment of pre-sorted letters are insufficient at a maximum of 20 per cent. GLS is planning to collect letters from customers, carry out sorting and transfer the mail to the distribution network of Deutsche Post, but this plan has been rejected by Deutsche Post so far."

May 24, 2005 -- The BBC Monitoring Service (U.K.) has reported that "Before his trip to Japan and South Korea, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva asked Justice Minister Marcio Thomaz Bastos that the investigation into the post office corruption case be thorough, comprehensive and impersonal. The minister said he had told the president the federal police were dealing with the case. For background, see United Press International."

May 24, 2005 -- From the PR Newswire: " More than twenty years ago, a group of employees at home delivered print advertising leader ADVO, Inc., all came to work with the same nagging thought. The previous evening, they had each been emotionally moved to tears by the landmark television movie "Adam," which told the tragic story of the abduction and murder of John Walsh's son, Adam. The movie shook the nation, bringing the issue of missing and abducted children to the forefront of America's conscience. Similarly, these ADVO employees could not get over the fact that -- had there been a way to distribute a picture of Adam -- he might have been recovered and his murder prevented. A year and a half later, the answer to that question took the form of the first-ever ADVO Have You Seen Me?(R) card, which now reach the mailboxes of more than 100 million American households each week. Considered the most recognized piece of mail in America, ADVO's Have You Seen Me?(R) cards are the centerpiece in a program -- conducted by ADVO in partnership with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and the U.S. Postal Service -- that has been directly responsible for the return of 137 missing children, equal to one out of every six children featured on the card."

May 24, 2005 -- Look for the House postal reform bill (H.R. 22) to go to the House floor sometime mid-June.

May 24, 2005 -- Les Echos (France) has reported that "New legislation on the postal sector in France, which, by 1 January 2006, will authorise the state postal service operator La Poste to create an establishment and will also open the postal sector to competition, has been promulgated in a state legal publication."

May 24, 2005 -- Business World (Ireland) has reported that "the four major unions at An Post have challenged the "graveyard scenario" for An Post presented by the management. In a joint statement published as a preface to the report, the union leaders said they were "declaring war on the negative and damaging perceptions of An Post, and the dismal picture of its future, painted by the current management". The aims of the campaign also include the "development of a new vision, and signpost a roadmap, that will help our members in the struggle to realise a new future An Post, and to stimulate a broadly based public debate among all stakeholders of the national postal service." See also RTE News.

May 24, 2005 -- As Global Politician has noted, "The syntax is tortured, the grammar mutilated, but the message - sent by snail mail, telex, fax, or e-mail - is coherent: an African bigwig or his heirs wish to transfer funds amassed in years of graft and venality to a safe bank account in the West. They seek the recipient's permission to make use of his or her inconspicuous services for a percentage of the loot - usually many millions of dollars. A fee is required to expedite the proceedings, or to pay taxes, or to bribe officials - they plausibly explain. A recent (2005) variant involves payment with expertly forged postal money orders for goods exported to a transit address. Roughly 1 percent of the millions of people who receive 419 e-mails and faxes are successfully scammed. Annual losses to the scam in the United States total more than $100 million, and law enforcement officials believe global losses may total over $1.5 billion."

May 24, 2005 -- China Radio International has reported that "China is seeking to boost its air freight capability to meet increasing demand. The nation's rapid economic growth saw an easing of restrictions toward air cargo business access last year. Now the top civil aviation authority is formulating an aviation logistic development programme to open skyways further. "China's air logistics are expected to grow dramatically in the coming 20 years thanks to the increase of the domestic economy and foreign trade," said Li Jun, vice-director of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC).

May 24, 2005 -- Last Friday, the Postal Rate Commission recommended (MC2005-2) "that the United States Postal Service enter into a three-year Negotiated Service Agreement with HSBC North America Holdings Inc. (HSBC). The HSBC Negotiated Service Agreement is based on the recently recommended Capital One Services, Inc. (Capital One) Negotiated Service Agreement. The HSBC Negotiated Service Agreement includes an address correction element that provides HSBC, at certain levels of volume, electronic address corrections without fee for properly endorsed First-Class Mail solicitations. HSBC will receive the services associated with Change Service Requested, Option 2, which include forwarding. In return, HSBC agrees to forgo physical return of undeliverable mail, which otherwise is provided under the existing service features of First-Class Mail for mail that cannot be forwarded."

`May 24, 2005 -- National Nine News has reported that "Australia Post has rejected claims it persecuted a mentally ill postal worker who took legal action against the organisation after it sacked him." See also the Sydney Morning Herald.

May 24, 2005 -- Transport Intelligence has reported that "General Logistics Systems B.V., Amsterdam (GLS), the parcels subsidiary of Royal Mail, aims to complete its European network, further standardise operating procedures within the GLS Group; and advance three strategic business fields: the establishment of an express network, the optimisation of deliveries to private households, and the handling of letters by feeding them into the letter networks operated by postal companies (downstream access)."

May 24, 2005 -- The DM Bulletin (U.K.) has reported that British postal regulator "Postcomm has set out proposals for the requirements postal operators will have to meet to get a licence to take part in the fully liberalised postal market from January next year."

May 24, 2005 -- As the New York Times has noted, "The world of advertising turns upside down when the advertisers - not the agencies - are the ones pushing the envelope. But that is what has been happening. The advertising business is undergoing an upheaval, forcing executives to radically change how they do business. Marketers are trying desperately to stay ahead of the technological innovations that are changing how consumers view their messages - and are putting pressure on their agencies to adapt. Ad spending in the United States, which once grew reliably year after year, declined in 2001 for the first time in four decades - and by the largest percentage since the Depression year of 1938. While ad spending has rebounded since then, the growth rate is slower than during its heyday of the 1990's."

May 24, 2005 -- Don't expect a Senate mark-up of S.662 until sometime in early June.

May 24, 2005 -- Japan Today has reported that "The House of Representatives steering committee decided Monday by a majority vote by the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the New Komeito party, to convene a plenary session Tuesday on a set of postal privatization bills."

May 24, 2005 -- AdWeek has reported that "Following a four-month review, The Los Angeles Times has selected Interpublic Group's Draft to craft and execute the newspaper's direct-marketing efforts." As they say in the Sam Adams commercials: "Always a good decision."

May 23, 2005 -- Traffic World has reported that "Unexpected difficulty training employees is delaying the realization of $600 million in annual savings UPS expects to glean from its new package flow technology. The company said retraining dispatchers to use the system won't affect service or the rollout of new handheld computers, but the phase-in of PFT, which UPS expected to complete this year, may not be finished until late 2007."

May 23, 2005 -- UPS Trade Management Services, Inc., a unit of UPS Supply Chain Solutions, announced that it has simplified international trade management by unveiling a new software suite called UPS TradeSense™. The software helps U.S. exporters and importers manage customs clearance and security regulations associated with global trade."

May 23, 2005 -- Business World (Ireland) has reported that "the Government today announced that postcodes would be introduced in Ireland by 1st January 2008. The Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Noel Dempsey, said that Ireland was one of the few developed countries without post codes and that the decision came after a working group had been set up to examine the issue." See also FinFacts and Ireland Online.

May 23, 2005 -- AME Info has reported that "Emirates Post won recognition in two major categories at the 2nd annual International Business Awards, commonly known as Stevies, the world's only all-encompassing business awards program. Emirates Post's Training & Development Centre won the Stevie in the 'Best New Product or Service' category, while Mr. Abdullah Al Daboos, Director General of Emirates Post, was a finalist in the 'Best Turnaround Executive' category." See also Strategiy

May 23, 2005 -- The DM Bulletin (U.K.) has reported that "The DMA (U.K.) is set to combat what it calls a widespread myth in the media that direct marketing is extremely unpopular with consumers, with a new survey indicating that direct marketing generates 9% of all consumer sales."

May 23, 2005 -- The BBC (U.K.) has reported that "Postal deliveries in Cardiff, Swansea and Newport missed targets set by the Royal Mail during 2005/5, the independent mail watchdog claims. However, the latest figures show that delivery times for first class mail are improving. Royal Mail says in the first quarter of 2005 only the Cardiff postcode missed the target of 92.5% of first class post arriving the next working day. But the company admitted it still had problems in south and west Wales."

May 23, 2005 -- As DMNews has noted, "The Postal Rate Commission provided a timetable last week for the rate case currently under way, setting an abbreviated schedule with the hope that a settlement of the case is likely. The U.S. Postal Service filed for a 5.4 percent across-the-board rate increase in April. Rate cases typically take 18 months from filing to implementation, but the PRC's schedule anticipates the completion of procedural matters for this case no later than early October.

May 23, 2005 -- The Boston Globe has reported that "The US Postal Service has removed 126 of its familiar blue, street corner mail collection boxes from nine communities north of Boston in the last several months as part of an ongoing national effort to save money."

May 23, 2005 -- And you think the Postal Service has pension-related woes?Business Week has reported that "according to new congressional estimates, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC) could be facing a bill of more than $120 billion over the next decade to cover pension-fund losses."

May 23, 2005 -- Did you know...? In recent several years, the catalogue trade in Russia has developed fast and now covers the growing number of regions and consumer groups. In expert estimations, Russia has all favorable conditions for development of mail-order trade. Large distances, existence of postal communication practically everywhere, inadequate development of retail trade networks, large audience not covered by any advertising effect - all these factors promote development of trade "at a distance", but are still rather scarcely used in practice. The International Post Office of Russian Post has for more than 7 years been actively engaged in development of catalogue trade in the territory of Russia and invites Russian and foreign companies for cooperation on mutually beneficial terms.

May 23, 2005 -- Japan Times has reported that "a governing Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker suggested Sunday that the House of Representatives may be dissolved if postal privatization bills are scrapped."

May 23, 2005 -- Kyodo news service (Japan) has reported that "About 9,000 chiefs of such post offices were attending a general meeting of their association, a major support base of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Some lawmakers within Koizumi's LDP opposing his postal reform plan and members of the labor union at Japan Post also took part in the rally."

May 22, 2005 -- According to the National Union of Public and General Employees (Canada), "Canada Post has placed several classes of rural outlets under "review" with a view to phasing them out through "attrition." However, the corporation refuses (in its usual secretive way) to say exactly what it means and to be frank with rural Canadians about its plans for their communities."

May 22, 2005 -- The Independent (U.K.) notes "Why Labour dare not deliver Royal Mail to the posties."

May 22, 2005 -- The Guardian (U.K.) has reported that "Postal unions are vowing to block any moves to privatise or sell off part of the Royal Mail. The deputy general-secretary of the Communication Workers Union, Dave Ward, made clear the union would fight any plan to privatise or part-privatise the state-owned group."

May 22, 2005 -- ThisIsLondon (U.K.) has reported that "a controversial plan to privatise Royal Mail has won crucial backing from new Trade & Industry Secretary Alan Johnson. The former leader of the postmen's union is enthusiastic about the scheme to give the 200,000 workforce a stake in the business. The plan, which echoes the partners concept of the John Lewis stores group, was revealed by Financial Mail on Sunday last December. It will start early next year when Royal Mail will raise £2.5bn to give workers a 51% stake in the business and to invest." See also Forbes.

May 22, 2005 -- The Times (U.K.) has reported that "Royal Mail failed to meet its delivery targets for more than 75% of homes and businesses in Scotland last year, making the country's postal service the worst in the UK."

May 22, 2005 -- Arab News has reported that "Some five million post boxes will be distributed among households in Riyadh as part of the Saudi Postal Corp's efforts to distribute letters, parcels and money orders at the addressees' doorsteps. The corporation already has prepared a detailed directory of the capital city in association with the Zaki Mohamed Ali Farsi Consultancy in preparation for the new home delivery. The 324-page directory contains information about the home service, maps of Riyadh and other parts of the Kingdom, names of roads and streets in Riyadh, and postal codes of ministries and government departments."

May 21, 2005 -- The latest issue of the PostCom Bulletin is available online. In this issue: Postal Service soliciting feedback on 2006-2010 strategic transformation plan. USPS officers support new MTAC organization. Association for Postal Commerce Vice President Kate Muth says it's imperative the next USPS Transformation Plan includes a new Postal Service business model. PMG refuses to spell out plans for mail plants. A first-class crisis in the making? Authors Fouad Nader and Luis Jimenez prepared this paper as part of the Pitney Bowes research for the manuscript, "Electronic Substitution for Mail: Models and Results; Myth and Reality." Congressional highway bill could contribute to higher postal rates. Hendel asks governors to postpone new USPS purchasing rules. Pearce to chair National Defense University Foundation board. Greene to lead Canada Post, Ouellet under fire for expenses. Deutsche Post promises higher dividends, international expansion. La Poste to launch La Banque by year's end. Hey! You've not been getting the weekly PostCom Bulletin--the best postal newsletter anywhere...bar none?  Send us by email your name, company, company title, postal and email address. Get a chance to see what you've been missing.
 

May 21, 2005 -- The latest issue of PostCom's PostOps Update has been posted on this site. In this issue: USPS to issue final rule on bundle address visibility. Separate proposed rule to come On bundle integrity. Sack reduction initiatives. No data yet for co-mailing mixed classes. USPS exploring periodicals processing changes. Alternative packaging materials for parcels. Streamlining acceptance and verification. FAST pilot extended. Service measurement and improvement workgroup forming. PostalOne 9.0 released; 10.0 in the works. USPS moving toward customized web site. USPS to publish eVS rules soon. Colleges to test coa system. 4-CB likely to include POSTNET. USPS leaving the door open for RFID. USPS exploring bundle tracking alternatives. APPS deployment continues. USPS to hold "BMA Days." New CASS resources. National PCC Day Sept 14. Calendar for upcoming rules changes.

May 21, 2005 -- In a faxed letter sent to every member of the Texas State Senate, PostCom said: "We urge you to reconsider the wisdom of including recent language adopted as part of HB 607 which would NOT exempt the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) from those provisions that would apply to non-governmental, commercial companies that deliver blank, printed checks to the homes and businesses of those who use checks as financial instruments. W e believe that applying this provision to the Postal Service not only is not necessary, but may also be in fact illegal under the powers set forth in the U.S. Constitution which reserves for Congress alone the power over the establishment of post roads (the general authority granted to Congress over this nation's postal system)."

May 21, 2005 -- New York Times has reported that "The F.B.I. would gain broad authority to track the mail of people in terror investigations under a Bush administration proposal, officials said Friday, but the Postal Service is already raising privacy concerns about the plan. The proposal, to be considered next week in a closed-door meeting of the Senate Intelligence Committee, would allow the bureau to direct postal inspectors to turn over the names, addresses and all other material appearing on the outside of letters sent to or from people connected to foreign intelligence investigations. The plan would effectively eliminate the postal inspectors' discretion in deciding when so-called mail covers are needed and give sole authority to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, if it determines that the material is "relevant to an authorized investigation to obtain foreign intelligence," according to a draft of the bill."

May 21, 2005 -- The Star (Malaysia) has reported that "the distribution of Pos Malaysia & Services Holdings Bhd shares to shareholders of Avenue Capital Resources Bhd could see the free float of Pos Malaysia shares rise but could also lead to a massive share overhang should shareholders of Avenue Capital decide to cash in on their windfall."

May 21, 2005 -- The Edinburgh Evening News (U.K.) has reported that "The Royal Mail's 175-year-old mail trains will continue to feature as part of Britain's postal network under a long-term deal with FirstGroup's logistics arm, GB Railfreight. Royal Mail has signed a contract for at least two nightly rail services between London and Scotland until March 2006, with an option for a further 12 months."

May 20, 2005 -- The Daily Yomiuri (Japan) has reported that:

• In a rare exercise of prime ministerial influence in personnel affairs at the Diet, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi played a direct role in the nomination of the chairman and one of the chief directors of a House of Representatives special committee on postal privatization. Toshihiro Nikai, director general of the Liberal Democratic Party's Election Bureau, named chairman; and Taku Yamasaki, special adviser to the prime minister, named chief director; are staunch Koizumi supporters and are seen as having been named to push postal reform bills through the Diet.
• At a plenary session Friday, the House of Representatives decided to establish a special committee to discuss postal reform bills, largely through support from the Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner New Komeito. Lawmakers from the opposition Democratic Party of Japan and Social Democratic Party, who opposed the establishment of the ad hoc committee, boycotted the session. Lawmakers from the Japanese Communist Party attended the session, but voted against the creation of the committee.

May 20, 2005 -- The latest copy of the National Association of Postmasters of the U.S. electronic governmental affairs newsletter is available on the NAPUS web site.

May 20, 2005 -- DMNews has reported that "First-Class mail volumes have been slumping, but there are ways to revive them, members of the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors told a congressional committee yesterday. Declining volumes from First Class, the postal service's most profitable mail rate, are considered a threat to the long-term financial stability of the USPS. But the postal service has begun initiatives to reverse that trend, Carolyn Gallagher and Louis Giuliano, both members of the Board of Governors, told the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs. Both appeared before the committee for a hearing on their nominations for new terms as board members. the Senate is considering the reappointment of Tony Hammond to the Postal Rate Commission. Hammond, who has been on the PRC since 2002, said he supported measures in the postal reform bill before the Senate to increase transparency in the USPS and to peg rate increases to an index. "

May 20, 2005 -- Ha'aretz (Israel) has reported that "The management of the Postal Authority filed a request for a temporary injunction against the Histadrut Labor Federation and the postal workers union in the Tel Aviv Labor Court yesterday. The workers have been striking partially, and the authority claims the strike is "political."

May 20, 2005 -- The Japan Times has reported that "Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will appoint Toshihiro Nikai, director general of the Liberal Democratic Party's Election Bureau, as chairman of a Lower House special committee on postal privatization that the LDP plans to launch Friday."

May 20, 2005 -- People's Daily (China) has reported that "In the first quarter this year, Nanjing Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine has hunted down and seized totally 181 contraband goods from international mails and express luggages, three times higher than that in the same period last year. All the facts show that international mail has become one of the major ways of introduced pests."

May 20, 2005 -- According to Bill McAllister's most recent piece in Linn's, "Since John E. "Jack" Potter became the 72 nd postmaster general of the United States on June 1, 2001, he has led a largely charmed life. The career postal worker has led the Postal Service through its response to anthrax bioterrorism, and he was given credit with helping stave off stamp price increases for at least three years. But now, as he faces the likelihood of a small rate increase next year and an even bigger increase in 2007, the silver-haired postal chief executive could start to take fire from the Postal Service's critics. On May 9, the U.S. Government Accountability Office weighed in with what is the sharpest attack on the PMG to date. What upset the GAO was Potter's unwillingness to spell out how he would deal with excess capacity among the Postal Service's more than 300 mail processing plants. Potter has said he wants to deal with the plants on a one-at-a-time basis, arguing that no one can predict what future mail volumes will be. The PMG (he said) has no intention of laying out a broad national plan for which mailing plants to keep and which he will seek to close."

May 19, 2005 -- In a letter to all Postal Service headquarters personnel, Postmaster General Jack Potter told his people to tighten their belts and to do their share to reduce postal costs and eliminate waste. Effective immediately: a headquarters hiring freeze.

May 19, 2005 -- Government Technology has reported that "The California State Senate on Monday approved a bill with broad bipartisan support (29-7) that would prohibit state and local governments from issuing identification documents, driver's licenses, and ID cards containing a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag, a device that can broadcast an individual's most private information including their name, address, telephone number, and date of birth. The bill will be heard next in the State Assembly. It is the first bill of its kind in the country and has drawn national attention following the federal government's decision to embed RFID tags in new U.S. passports."

May 19, 2005 -- The Wall Street Journal has reported that "A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows that disapproval of Congress's performance is higher than it has been since 1994, the year voters swept Democrats out of power on Capitol Hill. Americans have grown gloomier about the nation's direction, the economy and Iraq, and by 65%-17% they say Congress doesn't share their priorities. The survey shows a growing sense of disconnection between official Washington and ordinary Americans. There's a gap between perceptions of President Bush's and Congress's agendas and the public's agenda."

May 19, 2005 -- Financial Times Deutschland has reported that "Deutsche Post, the German postal service operator, is planning to expand its activities with the delivery of letters in the UK in 2005. At present, the company operates only in a few conurbations in the UK. Deutsche Post is hoping to compensate for a decline in its share of the German market, which is anticipated when the company's current monopoly on the market for the delivery of letters in Germany ends in 2008. The company says that it also intends to expand in other countries, and has not ruled out the possibility of acquisitions."

May 19, 2005 -- Transport Intelligence has reported that "General Logistics Services (GLS), Royal Mail's European parcels business made a £61 million profit on operations – up 144% on the last year. General Logistics Systems increased its turnover by 11.6% (£95m) from £818m to £913m due to volume growth, primarily in Germany, France and Italy, and some country specific price increases."

May 19, 2005 -- According to The Guardian (U.K.), "The Royal Mail's latest accounts appear to be a cause for celebration. What was painted as a failing institution three years ago has been turned around - to the extent that in the last financial year it made profits of pounds 537m on turnover of pounds 9bn. The improved profits were in part achieved by laying off 33,000 staff and closing 2,500 urban post offices. The Royal Mail still missed seven out of its 15 performance targets, some by substantial margins."

May 19, 2005 -- According to Les Echos (France), "Patrick Werner, head of the financial services division of the French post office, La Poste, said yesterday that the organisation's new banking services subsidiary is to be called Banque Postale. The name 'Credit Postal' had been rejected because it was too close to 'Credit Lyonnais', while 'La Poste Banque' was judged too similar phonetically to the names of the banking subsidiaries of the Dutch and German post offices."

May 19, 2005 -- The Journal of Commerce has reported that "DHL, the express delivery unit of Germany's Deutsche Post, does not want to chase U.S. market share from rival UPS and FedEx Corp. Signaling a reining-in of the company's ambitions in North America, John Mullen, joint chief executive of DHL Express, characterized the company's plans in the U.S. as "realistic and modest", insisting it is not "setting out to create another UPS or FedEx. Once service improves, DHL will seek to increase prices closer to those of UPS and FedEx rather than cut them, he said. "We're not driven by market share gains. We want to get more value out of the volume we have rather than chase more volume," he added." See also SmartMoney.com.

May 18, 2005 -- According to the National Association of Letter Carriers, "the Senate is expected to begin markup of Postal Reform on May 25."

May 18, 2005 -- The Postal Service's financial and operating statement for April 2005 is available on the USPS website.

May 18, 2005 -- The East Anglian Daily Times (U.K.) has reported that "small business leaders reacted with anger yesterday as it emerged that six Royal Mail bosses had each pocketed more than £1million in pay and bonuses following a year of record profits. The Forum of Private Business, which represents 25,000 small to medium-sized firms, said it was "staggered" at the payouts - including one of more than £2.5million to chief executive Adam Crozier - when the Royal Mail had still missed many of its performance targets."

May 18, 2005 -- Traffic World has reported that "DHL Express named Daniel McHugh, a veteran maritime industry executive, senior vice president-commercial for DHL Express Asia Pacific. He succeeds John Pearson, who moved into that role in the United States in a management shift in North America."

May 18, 2005 -- News from the May 18 meeting of the Postmaster General's Mailers Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC):

• Honored at today's meeting of the Postmaster General's Mailers Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC): John Wargo who is ending a 40-year career with the U.S. Postal Service and Alan Kline, who, for 20 years, has served as an MTAC representative from the nonprofit community.
• MTAC USPS vice-chair Marty Emery noted that MTAC was reorganizing to make its work more timely and relevant to rapidly changing postal times. MTAC will now have four major focus areas: (1) address accuracy, (2)optimization of preparation and entry, (3)seamless acceptance and induction, and (4) service measurement and improvement. Each focus group will be team-lead by an office from both the marketing and operations areas along with two mailer representatives.
• According to the USPS' new senior vice president for operations, the USPS will be "getting away from modeling networks" and "getting on with implementing incremental changes."
• According to USPS strategic planning vice president Linda Kingsley told MTAC members that the Postal Service has received over 1400 comments thus far on phase two of its transformation plan. Some of the issues raised; were:
  • Despite new methods of communicating, the Postal Service is still relevant;
  • The USPS needs to keep costs and rates low;
  • The USPS must fix the military/escrow issue; and
  • The USPS must continue to address labor costs
• USPS Government Relations senior vice president Ralph Moden said that H.R. 22 now has 148 sponsors, twice as many Democrats as Republicans. He said the earliest the bill would go to the floor for full House consideration will be June. Senate committee mark-up also may not be done during the week of June 6.
• According to Ken Ceglowski, the USPS manager of customer relationship management, the USPS is developing a new web experience for its customers through the development of a one-stop, single-point-of-access, postal business portal. It should be brought online by September.
• And...from the grapevine. Don't expect to hear anymore from the Postal Service on delivery point packaging (DPP). Supposedly it's official that DPP is dead.

May 18, 2005 -- The Federal Times has reported that "Procurement rules that take effect May 19 will help the U.S. Postal Service streamline its operations, reduce unnecessary costs and, in short, act more like a private-sector company than the government agency it is, Postal Service officials say. But opponents of the changes say the Postal Service is going too far in scrapping the procurement regulations that have been governing Postal Service operations and replacing them mostly with a set of guidelines and policies."

May 18, 2005 -- According to Dr. Charles Guy, of the Lexington Institute, "The U.S. Postal Service faces a troubling financial future. Both the GAO and a Presidential commission concluded that it must be substantially reformed to reduce the risk of taxpayer bailouts or dramatic price increases. For federal policymakers seeking to improve its financial outlook, one important step would be to lower labor costs by adopting a regional pay scale for all new employees. Such a change would need to be mandated by Congress – a steep hurdle politically given the pressure Members would likely face from postal unions in their home constituencies. However, given the clear consensus that the current system is unsustainable, there are no painless solutions."

May 18, 2005 -- From the PR Newswire:

• Canada Post Borderfree, established in 1999 and a part of the Canada Post Group of Companies since 2002, has moved beyond its focus as a technology provider and now presents US retailers with a powerful suite of direct marketing, transportation and e-commerce solutions. These solutions promise to provide a seamless market entry for US retailers and erase barriers to doing business in Canada. By forming a strategic partnership with Canada Post Borderfree, multi-channel retailers are able to expand into new markets and connect to new prospects by leveraging best-in- class marketing expertise, logistics, technology and analytics.
• The American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) expressed concern today about postal privatization legislation currently before the Diet, while also stating its hope that the "unfinished business" of reform be addressed successfully. In his first comments on the new legislation, Frank Keating, President and CEO of the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI), said, "Both the U.S. government and the ACLI have consistently said that Japan must take measures to ensure that the postal privatization process results in a level playing field for all life insurance competitors before newly-created postal entities underwrite and sell new or altered products."
• The National Defense University Foundation (NDUF) has announced that Harry J. Pearce, former chairman of Hughes Electronics Corporation, has been nominated to serve as Chairman of the Foundation Board of Directors. Pearce is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy. During his service career, Pearce served as a Staff Judge Advocate in the Air Force and was certified as a military judge. He also served as co-chair of the Presidential Commission on the United States Postal Service.