Asian Posts, USPS, Australia form express alliance

Postal services in Japan, the United States, South Korea, China, Hong Kong and Australia have formed an alliance to speed up express parcel delivery as competition sharpens with private-sector couriers, the Mainichi Shimbun reported Sunday. The Japanese newspaper, quoting Japan Post, said the entities reached an agreement at a meeting in June in Washington to expand areas for next-day delivery and for services to set delivery times as well as to reinforce parcel tracking among others. Japan Post offers express courier services under the EMS brand.