Japanese mailing firms hit by legislative compromise
A series of bills that threaten to shake-up Japan’s postal delivery service are to be passed in a diluted form, to the frustration of many private firms keen to enter the country’s direct mail market.
The revised bills are the result of a compromise between Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
While the revised government bill will allow private firms to enter Japan’s state-run mail delivery market, the LDP’s revisions state that companies wishing to become mail service operators must both charge unified fees and collect and deliver mail everyday.
It also requires any private firm looking to deliver mail to submit a business plan to the government and await approval.
These conditions are likely to deter many firms from entering the mail delivery sector.
In addition, the government has ruled that these regulations will also apply to direct mail, which means private firms will be virtually unable to register as direct mailers without first registering as general mail deliverers.
The news comes as a blow to many private companies planning to cash in on the country’s lucrative direct mail industry.
The new bills also represent a setback for Koizumi, who is now a long way short of gaining support for his plans to privatise the country’s state-run postal service.
