DMA Members Views Sought by UPU on Extra-Territorial Offices of Exchange
On very short notice, the Direct Marketing Association has been asked by the Chairman of the Universal Postal Union’s (UPU) Advisory Group to present its members’ views regarding Extra-Territorial Offices of Exchange (ETOE) on February 10, 2004. The UPU is the United Nations agency in charge of global postal policy.
The existence of an Extra-Territorial Office of Exchange per se is not the issue. In the view of some companies, the problem arises when bulk ETOE items are dispatched using the indicia of a country with more favorable terminal dues than that of the host country. In a number of countries, including the United States, this is considered commercial freight and, therefore, is not eligible for entry under UPU documentation or terminal dues.
There are currently about 90 registered ETOEs worldwide, with 20 of them are in the United States.
Meantime, a work group is currently studying the situation and will make recommendations to the UPU Congress as to whether ETOEs should be legitimized within the UPU Acts or whether they should remain outside the Acts and considered as commercial entities.
There appears to be a disparity of views among DMA members on this issue. In order to fully articulate the various viewpoints, The DMA would appreciate hearing from members as to their viewpoints (or experiences) regarding ETOE use, regulation, economic impact, etc.
Remarks can be brief and anecdotal and should be sent to Richard Miller, Executive Director, International Mailers Action Group at rmiller@capecod.net.
Unless authorized, Mr. Miller will not identify the source of the opinion you express.
If you prefer, you may send comments to Charles Prescott, The DMA’s vice president of international business development and government affairs, at cprescott@the-dma.org. Prescott will forward on all information to Mr. Miller for inclusion in his presentation to the UPU.
