June 20, 2024 Approval of Amendments to the Terms and Conditions for International Mail

 The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) received an application from Japan Post Co., Ltd. for approving changes to the postal terms and conditions, in accordance with Article 68, Paragraph 1 of the Postal Act (Act No. 165 of 1947). The MIC then consulted the matter with the Information and Communications and Posts Administrative Council, chaired by AIDA Hitoshi, Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo. The MIC has received a report from the Council stating that approval should be granted as consulted.
 Based on this report, the MIC has granted approval for the application today.

Approving amendments to the terms and conditions for international mail in response to the revision of the Universal Postal Convention

1. Background of application

 The Universal Postal Convention was amended at an extraordinary Universal Postal Union (UPU) convention held in October 2023. During this convention, the handling of "special mailbag printed matter," which is a regular mail piece in the international postal service, was changed from a mandatory to a voluntary service. Additionally, the "receipt notice," which involves special handling, was abolished.
 In response, Japan Post Co., Ltd. has also decided to discontinue the handling of both the special mailbag printed matter and receipt notice due to the following reasons: The handling volume of special mailbag printed matter has been declining year by year and is expected to decline further. It can be replaced with regular printed matter or international parcels. The handling volume of receipt notices has also been decreasing and is expected to decrease further. The delivery status for each mail piece can be tracked using a barcode. This time, we will revise the terms and conditions for international mail to implement the aforementioned changes.

2. Content of the changes

 We will revise relevant provisions to reflect the termination of handling special mailbag printed matter, a regular mail piece, and receipt notices, which involves special handling, in the international postal service.

3. Scheduled implementation date

 January 1, 2025 (effective date of the revision of the Universal Postal Convention).