Delivering Overseas Mail

On Aug. 8 The Post reprinted on the Federal Page a five-week-old story from the International Herald Tribune [July 4] about the U.S. Postal Service agreement with Consignia for the delivery of Global Express Mail and Global Air Parcel Post in Europe began in January. The agreement provides for an integrated network for delivery. It also introduced tracking capabilities for Air Parcels and improved tracking and tracing for Global Express Mail.

The Post story unfortunately ignored the editorial response from James P. Wade, vice president, International Business, published in the Herald Tribune on July 23 and Postal Service comments in a follow-up story on July 27.

All parcels entering Europe are subject to customs inspection and the assessment of duties and taxes. Under our agreement with Consignia, if duties and taxes are assessed, the recipient pays an administrative fee of 17 euros. Our previous delivery agents (posts and private companies) also charge a brokerage service fee that varies widely. Our competitors also have to pay a brokerage fee, which is built into their shipping charges. Information in the original International Herald Tribune article, but not in The Post’s reprint, showed that the charges for the Postal Service’s Global Express Mail and Air Parcels are considerably below our competitors’ charges.

Express mail service to Europe is designed to be delivered within two to five days. Air Parcel service is designed to be delivered within 14 days. We were not getting this service consistently from the posts or private companies we had been using and had no way to track the movement of Air Parcels. Despite some startup challenges, today, on average, service is better and more consistent than what we received in the past from posts, including La Poste of France.

We recognize the customs processing fee is an issue for some customers and are working with Consignia to reduce it effective in January.