Author: Archive

Royal Mail to axe two-thirds of rural bus service

Posted by | May 31, 2007 | |

Royal Mail has come under fire for axing two-thirds of a bus service that serves isolated rural areas.

Kent County Council said Royal Mail went ahead with the controversial decision despite an offer of increased financial support to keep the services going.

Post buses collect mail from post boxes and ferry people from isolated areas into and out of towns.

Nine services currently operate across the county but from September there will be only three in Gravesham and Sittingbourne.

KCC said Royal Mail originally planned to axe all the services but relented on three following urgent discussions with the county council.

The services facing the axe are numbers 301, 302 and 303 that serve villages in the Canterbury area plus 330, 331 and 332 in the Maidstone area.

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USPS International Service Center honoured with Certificate of Excellence

Posted by | May 31, 2007 | |

The International Service Center (ISC) in Miami, Fla., is being recognized with an International Post Corporation (IPC) Certificate of Excellence for exceeding the highest international standards in mail processing.

Paul Vogel, managing director and senior vice president of global business for the Postal Service, said the honor is particularly noteworthy because it marks certification of all five international centers. Chicago’s J.T. Weeker ISC was certified in 2004, the New York (JFK) ISC was certified in 2006, the Los Angeles and San Francisco ISCs were certified earlier this year, and Miami joins the list today.

“The U.S. Postal Service is the first national post worldwide to earn IPC certification of its entire international processing network,” said Vogel.

Achieving certification is a year-long process that includes stringent on-site reviews to verify that nearly 200 standards are met. The IPC awards certification for a three-year period, and conducts periodic validation to ensure that a facility maintains its high performance levels.

The Miami center employs more than 280 people and processes more than 24 million pounds of mail per year.

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European postal operators express caution on the liberalisation of the postal market.

Posted by | May 31, 2007 | |

As the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union are about to decide on a proposal of the European Commission to fully liberalise the European postal market in 2009, 12 postal operators, in charge of providing the universal service in their countries, express their support for the cautious approach followed in the ongoing debates.

The postal operators of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Hungary, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland and Slovakia observe with interest the caution that characterises the majority of debates in the EU Parliament on the issue of postal market liberalisation.

Over the past few months several signatory postal operators have highlighted the difficulty of identifying and implementing a financing mechanism that guarantees the continuity of the universal postal service in the event of full liberalisation of the market.

Faced with this problem, several debates in the EU Parliament called for caution and raised crucial issues such as viable financing mechanisms of the universal service, dangers of social dumping and the necessary conditions for a level playing field between market players. As a result, three European Parliamentary Committees as well the European Social and Economic Committee proposed new dates for the completion of the internal market for postal services, to be confirmed if appropriate. In the meantime, all efforts must be constructively spent to propose adequate solutions to the above mentioned points which are essential to make liberalisation possible.

The 12 signatory postal operators support a responsible approach and assert that the actual uncertainties must be addressed before the current system of financing of the universal postal service is put to an end.

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Hartford Life Insurance wants to supply variable annuities to Japan Post

Posted by | May 31, 2007 | |

Hartford Life Insurance K.K., a U.S.-affiliated firm versed in variable annuity insurance products, has offered to supply products to two offshoot firms of state-owned Japan Post, Jiji Press learned Thursday.

Japan Post will make a decision on suppliers before October, when it is to be broken up into four entities including a savings bank and a post office network management firm.

In April, Japan Post asked prospective private life insurance suppliers to submit proposals for variable annuity insurance products to be sold at the savings bank and the post office company.

Among them, Hartford is the top insurer in terms of variable annuity insurance policies in force.

The two Japan Post offshoots aim to expand their financial product lineups and boost sales commission income through agreements with private life insurers.

Hartford, which has expanded through working with banks, hopes to widen its sales channels across Japan through tie-ups with the new entities that will be formed from the gargantuan Japan Post.

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