Singapore Post sees red over British letters

Singapore Post sees red over British letters
From AFP ENGLISH, January 4th, 2001

SINGAPORE, Jan 4 (AFP) – Singapore Post has stamped its authority on mail
deliveries in the island state, forcing the British Post Office to stop
bypassing its official service.

The national postal authorities became enveloped in a row when the British
Post Office began using its subsidiary Citipost Express for Singapore
deliveries.

The British move may have been within the letter of the law, but certainly
not within the spirit, argued Singapore Post.

“We have taken this matter up with the British Post Office,” Janine
Mathieu, Singapore Post’s senior manager, corporate communications, said in a
letter published in the Straits Times on Thursday.

“They, understanding our situation, have agreed to cease sending mail to
Singapore through channels other than the local authorised postal service by
early this month.”

British Post Office spokesman Dan Taylor told the newspaper that
“cost-effectiveness or better delivery performance” were among the reasons for
avoiding national postal services.

“When we use our own companies, we have better end-to-end control of our
mail,” he said.

Taylor confirmed the British Post Office had stopped using Citipost Express
for Singapore mail, but denied they had violated any regulations.

Citipost Express is only licensed to deliver express mail, printed papers
and parcels in Singapore.

The Info-communications Development Authority, Singapore’s mail watchdog,
said its definition of “express” was any mail delivered within one working day
of being received by the local agent.

cf/bh/jkbAFP ENGLISH, 04th January 2001