Universal Postal Union

The Universal Postal Union (French: Union postale universelle; UPU) is a specialized agency of the United Nations. Has as purpose strengthen the organization and improve postal services, participate in postal technical assistance that requested by member countries and promote international collaboration in postal matters. The UPU sets tariffs, maximum and minimum limits of weight and size, as well as the conditions of acceptance of the correspondence, establishes regulations applicable to this, and to objects whose transport requires special concern, such as infectious and radioactive substances. Its official language is French and its headquarters are in the city of Bern, Switzerland. It currently has 191 member countries.

History

Statue in Osaka, Japan. It's about 100 years of UPU.

During the 17th and XVIII, the exchange of correspondence between different countries was regulated by agreements between each pair of nations, but in the century XIX this network of agreements became so complex that it prevented shipments from being delivered quickly. Because of this, several projects began to be implemented, among which was Sir Rowland Hill's, creator of the stamp, who introduced a system to standardize the size of the letters.

In 1863, at the request of General Montgomery Blair, of the United States Postal Administration, fifteen European and American delegates were called to a conference in Paris to agree on the main postal treaties, but they only reached some separate agreements and they were unable to establish a universal postal system. To do this the task was left to Heinrich von Stephan who convened a new conference in Berne on September 15, 1874, in which he proposed to make an organization for the regularization of the mail on a world scale. Thanks to this, on October 9 of the same year, by virtue of the Treaty of Bern, the General Postal Union was born and that date is today the world postal service day. The name was changed to the Universal Postal Union in 1878. Later it became a specialized agency of the United Nations, by an agreement that entered into force on July 1, 1948.

The UPU maintains close relationships with various programmes, such as the United Nations Drug Control Program (UNDCP), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the United Nations Child Care Program of the Environment (UNEP). The organization also cooperates with different organizations such as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the International Labor Organization (ILO), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Bank. To facilitate the movement of messages, the UPU works in partnership with the International Air Transport Organization (IATA), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL).

Organization

The director and deputy director of the UPU are elected every year by the administrative council, with no possibility of holding two successive terms. This council is made up of two people from America, two from Africa, two from Asia, Oceania and the Pacific Islands, two from Europe and one from Eastern Europe.

This council meets four times a year. The functions of this group, in addition to the election of the president, are:

• Manage everything related to the investment fund.
• Decide on what to invest or what to finance.
• Analyze and approve (or disapprove) projects.
• Evaluate the outcome of the projects.
• Give the interpretation of UPU rules.
• Communicate the works done to postal operators.
• Supervising the administration.

Organisms

Service Quality Fund (QSF)

The Service Quality Fund (also known as QSF) is responsible for improving postal service especially in developing countries and financing projects for this purpose.

At the UPU congress in 2009 in Bucharest, the QSF divided member countries into different groups depending on the development of these:

• IC, for industrialized countries.
• NCCs, for countries contributing to the postal network.
• DCs, for developing countries.
• LDCs for the most deprived developing countries (mostly African countries).

In addition, it was decided to increase investment in underdeveloped countries and reduce it in NCCs.

Universal Postal Service (SPU)

The Universal Postal Service (SPU) is the minimum quality basic postal services available to all inhabitants of a national territory at all times, anywhere and at an affordable value.

The UPR is contained in resolution C 103/1999 adopted by the XXII Congress of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) held in Beijing, China, in 1999. This resolution defines the SPU as the guarantee of presenting a universal postal service, which allows customers to send and receive goods and messages from and to any part of the world. To this end, UPU member countries must seek access to UPUs that corresponds to a supply of quality basic postal services and at cost-effective and affordable prices.

Postal Security Group (PSG)

To facilitate the development of a security standard and best practices, the UPU has established the Postal Security Group (PSG).

Over the past 15 years, this strategic group has been guided by the slogan of Postal Security. The group is composed of security experts from the 77 member countries of PSAG and is charged with the development of global and regional security strategies to assist everyone in their security missions. Through training initiatives, consultancy missions and prevention programmes, PSG strives to protect employees and assets.

Foreign Exchange Office (ETOE)

The Foreign Office of Exchange is an office that works with operators outside its national territory and is established for commercial treatment and business in markets of another country.

WSIS

The role of the postal sector in the information society, and particularly its contribution to reducing the digital divide, has been the topic of ongoing discussion of the Universal Postal Union since the first phase of the WSIS convention in Geneva in 2003. In accordance with the Geneva plan of action adopted during the first phase of WSIS in 2003, UPU objectives are:

• Facilitate, through the postal infrastructure, unprecedented access to knowledge and communication and information technologies (ICTs as per its English acronym).
• Continue building the physical, electronic and financial dimensions of the global postal network.
• Transfer master's degree in physical communications to the Internet, especially in the field of identity management and spam control.
• Help build confidence and security in the use of ICTs.

Market analysis group

In response to globalization, liberalization, deregulation, the opening of competition and technological advances, postal operators have sought new opportunities that go beyond their central activities and their traditional geographic markets. Business has been restructured, partnerships have been formed, strategic procurement, business activities and products, facilities and operations have been modernized.

Postal economy group

The postal sector is undergoing major reforms in industrialized countries (ICs) and developing countries (DCS). This calls for an understanding of the economic challenges posed by such reforms, to make a universal postal service, providing a quality service with cost-effective and affordable prices to all.

Although postal reform in industrialized countries has been the subject of many deep-seated economic studies, there has been little economic research in developing countries. The new UPU economic postal programme, therefore, has conducted an economic research aimed at verifying the reasons for unequal postal development in the sector and has presented the viable models for growth in the postal sector of these countries.

Electronic commerce

In order to make major changes in recent years, continuous growth has been observed in electronic commerce-related figures. While people make the purchases and penetration of broadband more comfortable, the postal service must constantly progress in the future.

Being present in every country in the world, postal service is in an ideal position to assist small and medium-sized enterprises and least developed countries in developing their e-commerce activities.