Japanese Govt approves postal guidelines
The Public Management Ministry on Wednesday approved an interim management plan and goals governing the business guidelines for Japan Post, which will go into operation on April 1, and announced a set of guidelines for the definition of confidential mail articles to be handled exclusively by the new public corporation.
Japan Post will be established as a public corporation replacing the Postal Services Agency.
The guidelines stipulate that direct mail (DM) sent to customers for promotional purposes be categorized as confidential postal matter, meaning that Japan Post will almost exclusively handle DM after April 1.
However, with Yamato Transport Co., the nation’s largest door-to-door delivery-service operator, mapping out a plan to enter the DM market, the tug-of-war between Japan Post and Yamato over the DM delivery business is likely to intensify.
Other than Japan Post, only operators licensed by the ministry can deliver mail.
The guidelines categorize postcards, bills, invitations and certificates as mail, but as magazines, catalogs and credit cards are not classified as mail, private companies are permitted to deliver them.
With the exception of fliers and brochures handed out on the street, the lucrative DM business has been defined in principle as mail.
Circulars department stores send to their members will also be classified as mail if the recipient’s names are printed on them.
The ministry’s categorization of DM as mail means Japan Post will be able to continue controlling the DM market, which is worth an estimated 300 billion yen.
The ministry’s guidelines will enable Japan Post to start streamlining its loss-incurring delivery business.
From April, Japan Post will introduce a package in which users can enclose as many letters as possible for a flat charge of 500 yen. It will increase the number of “service drivers” that visit companies to canvass businesses.
Japan Post apparently plans to poach corporate clients from private delivery operators that have been dominating the corporate mail delivery business, observers said.
In response to Japan Post’s aggressive business plan, Yamato will begin a mail delivery service on April 1 that charges 80 yen for A-4 size documents weighing up to 50 grams.
Yamato President Keiji Aritomi said he does not regard publicity DM as mail and plans to enter the business despite the ministry guidelines.
In response to Yamato’s plan, Japan Post said that if Yamato encroaches on its business, it will file a complaint against Yamato for violating the Mail Law.
Copyright (c) 2003 The Yomiuri Shimbun. All rights reserved.
