Moving the postal sector forward since 1875 DECEMBER 2012 No 4

Interview with new DG Parcel inquiries get faster ISSN 0041-7009 ISSN

Facing Doha Postal Strategy

p the future oster insi

de! head on (86)769-89152814

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Our other products: Waybill with barcode , Adhesive stickers , Packing tapes , Packaging belts , Bills and so on Contents (86)769-89152814

Cover story Tempo set for new cycle A round-up of key decisions taken at the Doha Congress 2012 8 Board Envelope Variable barcode Feature Series New look for UPU bodies Postal Operations Council and Council of Administration get structural revamp 14

The board envelopes can 3D board envelope Ministers stand up for postal services be used for 2 times High-level support for network at ministerial conference 16 Countries declare good intentions Both sides of the drain coated Declaration shows addressing still on agenda 18 to prevent excess glue The man, the myth, the stamps What made two Mauritian stamps the most coveted in the world 26 Poly Mailer IBIS speeds up parcel inquiries Series Variable barcode Online system simplifies locating missing parcels 29

The interview In good hands Anti-counterfeiting sealing Bishar Hussein, UPU director general-elect, on leading the sector 20

Cover: gettyimages.com Five minutes (Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong) Familiar face, new office Pascal Clivaz on his new role as UPU deputy director general 24

Departments Bubble Mailer Variable barcode In brief 4 Series Variable message Editor’s note 5

Market focus 28

Plastic Seal December Variable barcode Low or high Series 2012Manager, Communication Programme: Rhéal LeBlanc (RL) temperarure Editor-in-chief: Faryal Mirza (FM) endurance Contributors: Jenifer Fenton (JF), Jérôme Deutschmann (JD), Christine Maria Paschyn (CMP), Ruby Praka (RP), Kayla Redstone (KR), Julian Ryall (JR), Susan Vogel-Misicka (SVM) Photographer: Nawras Alfawal Translators: Richard Alderman, James Holden, Mark Prosser Union Postale Translation assistant: Gisèle Coron International Bureau Water proof Design and layout: Die Gestalter, St Gallen, Switzerland Universal Postal Union Dust proof Union Postale is the Universal Postal Union’s flagship magazine, founded Printer: Gassmann, Biel, Switzerland P. O. Box 312 Great protection for in 1875. It is published quarterly in seven languages and takes a closer Subscriptions: [email protected] 3000 BERNE 15 waybill, invoices, look at UPU activities, featuring international news and developments Advertising: [email protected] SWITZERLAND Packing List cards and other from the postal sector. shipping The magazine regularly publishes well researched articles on topical The Universal Postal Union neither endorses any products or services Phone: Envelope documents issues facing the industry, as well as interviews with the sector’s leading offered by third-party advertisers nor guarantees the veracity of +41 31 350 35 95 individuals. any claims made by the same. Fax: It is distributed widely to the UPU’s 192 member countries, includ- Opinions expressed in the articles are not necessarily those +41 31 350 37 11 Series ing thousands of decision-makers from governments and Posts, as well of the UPU. Material may be reproduced with prior permission; please E-mail: as other postal stakeholders. All regard it as an important source of contact the editor-in-chief for more details. [email protected] information about the UPU and the postal sector at large. The English and French magazines are printed on FSC Mixed Website: Our other products: Waybill with barcode , Adhesive stickers , Packing tapes , Packaging belts , Bills and so on Union Postale is also published in French, Arabic, Chinese, German, Sources paper using processes and ink, which are certified as friendly http://news.upu.int/ Russian and ­Spanish. to the environment. magazine

4/2012 Union Postale · 3 in brief

Scenes from the Doha Congress (Photos: Nawras Alfawal)

Congress video archives

From October 7-11, 2012, UN Web TV filmed all the Doha proceedings To access the archive, check out: http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/conferencessummits/25th-universal-postal-congress-7-11-october-2012-doha-qatar/

Postage Redefining literature for the blind

Blind and visually impaired persons different formats, including sound books in Braille have given way to worldwide now have modern rules recordings and equipment or materi- CDs specially formatted for use by for sending and receiving materials als of any kind made or adapted to the blind. internationally after the Doha Con- assist blind persons. “Changing the As specialist stores, bookshops gress extended the exemption from wording of the provisions of the Uni- and libraries are often located far postal charges to ‘items for the blind’ versal Postal Convention to ‘items for from where blind people live, the to include a wider range of articles. the blind’ will have a significant pos- Post is the only service that can The definition of persons and organ- itive impact on the electronic inclu- bridge these distances. “The large izations that may send items for the sion of blind people in today’s soci- number of countries that voted in blind internationally has also been ety,” says Dan Pescod, vice-chair of favour of these changes at the Doha expanded. Any item for the blind the World Blind Union. Congress is a reminder that these sent to or by an organization for the Today, blind and visually impaired countries have honoured their com- blind or sent to or by a blind person persons, estimated at 285 million mitments under the United Nations will be exempt from postal charges. worldwide, get their information Convention on the Rights of Persons In future, items for the blind will using new media and modern with Disabilities,” said Pescod. JD cover correspondence, literature in communication tools. Heavy, bulky

4 · Union Postale 4/2012 ­ Editor’s note

When I look back on what was my first experience of you were here’ postcard of Congress highlights. Alas, Congress, a number of images come to mind. Against it proved to be nigh on impossible to do justice to all the the strong blue and geometric designs of the event’s developments that took place in Doha. Cherry-picking branding, people from the postal sector mingle in gigan- was a necessary evil but I hope, nevertheless, that you get tic halls and marble corridors in intense discussions to a glimpse – and for those that were there, a reminder – steer the course of the Union. All are reunited under the of some key developments. Congress motto: New world, new strategy. And the magazine is not only looking backwards but During those three weeks in Doha, a new strategy also forward to a new era. From 2013, the UPU will not was indeed forged to deal with a business world in per- only have a new strategy but also a different leadership. petual motion. I returned from Doha with a keen sense To help readers get acquainted with the new yet familiar of what moves our industry, what gives our colleagues in faces, we have interviewed the director general elect, the 192 member countries sleepless nights and what Bishar Hussein, and his deputy, Pascal Clivaz, to get closer thrills them about the Union’s work. to the personalities behind the titles. This issue of Union Postale is dedicated to those of you, who could not attend Congress. This is our ‘wish Faryal Mirza, editor-in-chief, Union Postale magazine

Financial inclusion Posts must exploit untapped potential

The 25th UPU Congress has adopted New research inclusion,” says Alexandre Berthaud, a resolution urging member coun- Posts are underused for financial one of the report’s authors. “If only tries to continue developing postal inclusion, despite having the largest 51 Posts offering savings accounts financial services, further recogniz- number of contact points in the can bank a billion people, then the ing their contribution to the United world, according to a report by the remaining postal operators of the Nations Millennium Development UPU, presented at Congress. With UPU’s 192 member countries could Goal of reducing poverty. 660,000 contact points in the world, easily provide a gateway to finan- With the decline of letter-post Posts and their financial subsidiaries cially include at least 500 million volumes, financial services offer new come only second to banks in their unbanked people directly or through growth opportunities for postal ser- potential to contribute to financial partnerships with banks.” vices, and they are gaining ground as inclusion. There are 523,000 bank Providing a global panorama on Posts consider strategies to diversify branches and ATMs in the world, postal financial inclusion, the report the business. Postal financial services according to the International Mone- identifies five main categories of accounted for almost 12 per cent of tary Fund. business models Posts use to provide global postal revenues worth 304 bil- An estimated one billion people financial services, as well as key lion USD, according to UPU statistics are currently banked through the issues to keep in mind when provid- for 2011. In countries, such as China, postal network. Fifty-one postal ing such services or moving into India, Gabon, Tunisia, Bangladesh, Italy, operators worldwide held 1.6 billion more complex financial services. The Azerbaijan, Belarus and Burundi, these savings and deposit accounts in 2010. report also recommends how postal services contribute more than 50 per “The postal network offers tremen- operators could progressively offer cent of the Post’s revenues. dous potential for fostering financial financial services. RL

Financial inclusion at the UPU: http://www.upu.int/en/activities/financial-inclusion/about-financial-inclusion.html

4/2012 Union Postale · 5 in brief

Who’s who at the UPU An eye for detail

Name: Alexandre Plattet Plattet – who has a commerce scene with that light at this hour.” Directorate: Logistics diploma – joined the French typing Plattet’s nature photos have been Position: Assistant, French typing pool pool in 1999 after responding to a exhibited at the UPU’s Berne head- Nationality: Swiss newspaper advertisement. Mainly quarters, in Montreux, Fribourg and responsible for typing and format- Geneva, as well as at New York City’s ting French texts, he also helps to Agora Gallery. create document templates and Plattet has travelled to Greece, enters documents into a multilingual Algeria, Iceland and the Canadian database. “I manage the database Rockies to shoot photos. “I loved the that allows us to put UPU documents desert in Algeria and the glaciers in on the web in all official languages,” Iceland,” he says. “On my next trip, he says. I’d like to go to Chile. There, you have Plattet has a good knowledge of the Atacama Desert in the north and English. “My brother-in-law is a Cana- the glaciers in the south. Desert and dian and part of my mother’s family ice… the two extremes connect.” is Swedish, so I get a certain amount Before focusing on photography, of practice,” he says. Plattet sang in a choir and made sev- Nature photography is Plattet’s eral short films. In 1995, when he The spotlight is an unusual place for passion. “I feel really comfortable in was 23, his first short film was Alexandre Plattet; he prefers to be nature,” he says. “I love the opportu- selected for an international festival behind the camera. In addition to nity to contemplate nature’s beauty. in Germany. Now he enjoys writing his responsibilities in the French typ- When I was younger, I drew a lot, poetry, taking long walks in the ing pool, Plattet also takes photos of but a painting takes a lot of time, woods - usually with a camera - and International Bureau (IB) events. whereas with photography you have working with computers. “I’ve always “I take portraits of IB staff, pictures of an immediate result… you freeze a been fascinated by computers and accords being signed and the like,” moment in time that is unique; you now make use of them for digital says the soft-spoken shutterbug. will probably never again have this photography. It’s a technical art.” RP

Emergency and Solidarity Fund Funding secures future

The UPU’s Emergency and Solidarity it easier to get basic postal services – with a surcharge earmarked for the Fund has been guaranteed a mini- deliveries of letters and parcels and fund. Other financing options will mum income in the 2013 – 16 cycle, receipt of money transfers at postal also be considered. due to Congress deciding that one counters, for example – up and run- The fund was set up by the UPU per cent of the regular Union budget ning again. Council of Administration in 2010 to should go towards it annually. This Member countries, postal opera- cover the numerous demands for will enable the UPU to take immedi- tors, restricted unions and other emergency assistance and ensure a ate or rapid action in the wake of partners have also been invited to quick response in allocating resources future disasters. The ready availabil- boost the fund with voluntary contri- to emergency assistance. jd ity of financial resources will make butions or to issue special stamps

6 · Union Postale 4/2012 World Postal Business Forum Parcels fuel mail transformation Innovation is vital to reviving the Thijs said. Reputedly the longest serv- taken over by the DRB-HICOM con- postal sector’s fortunes, UPU Direc- ing CEO of a postal operator world- glomerate in 2011. “We can build on tor General Edouard Dayan told del- wide, Thijs revealed that bpost’s our core competencies. We have egates at the World Postal Business strategy was to move from being access to more than 80 per cent of Forum, part of an annual industry a mail company to a parcels one. addressed and unaddressed estab- event. “The development of the dig- lishments. And we have one touch ital economy has stimulated the need Consumer driven point for every 5,000 inhabitants in for Posts to expand their product and Khalil Daoud, chief executive of Malaysia,” Dato’ Khalid said. service offerings by developing Liban Post, the Lebanese operator, The three-day forum in Brussels, postal digital services,” Dayan said. said the jury was out when it came Belgium, featured a host of CEOs While many Posts are diversifying to transforming the business in the and operational experts on how to their products and services, Dayan long run. “All Posts are reinventing steer the sector through changing sounded a note of caution. “The their business. Our common ground times. While there was no magic for- UPU is ever-conscious that the inter- is the high fixed costs. The expense is mula on offer guaranteeing success, net does not fulfil every need. Mail there whether we deal with one mail the gathering intended to inspire and parcels are still the core business item or a million,” Khalil said. industry actors to find ways to better of the majority of Posts,” the UPU Dato’ Khalid bin Abdol Rahman, deal with the sector’s future. director general stated. Pos Malaysia Berhad’s CEO, revealed Organized by the UPU, the World Echoing this sentiment was Johnny that the designated operator was Postal Business Forum is part of Thijs, chief executive of bpost, Bel- moving from a product-centric to the industry event, Post-Expo, which gian designated operator. “Our ambi- a solutions and consumer-driven is attended by 3,000 delegates on tion is limited to the core business, paradigm. Revenue diversification is average every year. FM where we use our competencies,” at full throttle since the Post was

International reply coupon Czech out new design

The Czech Republic has won the an ordinary priority letter-post item or UPU’s competition to design a new airmail letter sent abroad for a reply. international reply coupon (IRC). The While not all Posts sell IRCs, they are work of Czech artist and graphic all required to exchange them. designer, Michal Sindelar, reflects the By October 31, 2012, 120 Posts theme ‘Water for Life’, chosen in line worldwide had issued more than with the United Nations International four million Nairobi IRCs with a total Year of Water Cooperation in 2013. value of some 5 million USD. The new IRC will go on sale on Some 105 years after they were July 1, 2013. Customers will be able created, IRCs remain useful. In addi- to exchange it until the end of 2017. tion to their normal use for sending It will replace the current coupon, reply-paid mail, students in many known as the Nairobi model, which countries use them to exchange cor- On sale in July was first issued on July 1, 2009, and respondence with universities and 2013 remains valid until December 31, 2013. other educational institutions to find IRCs are exchangeable in every out the status of their admissions UPU member country for stamps rep- applications. JD resenting the minimum postage for

4/2012 Union Postale · 7 Tempo set for new cycle

The Universal Postal Congress in Doha, Qatar, was a whirlwind of activity, which did not disappoint. Cover story

Some 2,200 delegates from the UPU community played use technology and standards to improve core business By Faryal Mirza a crucial role in shaping the Union’s future from areas – such as parcels and letter post – while diversifying September 24 to October 15, 2012. Within Congress’s their businesses. framework, decisions taken ran the width and breadth Now that the dust from Congress has settled, Union of all that the UPU stands for, setting the tone for the Postale takes a closer look at some of the major decisions new work cycle. taken. Among them, terminal dues – the international Against the backdrop of falling mail volumes and letter-mail remuneration system – figured heavily, as well evolving customer needs, member countries agreed to as supply chain security and e-commerce.

Terminal dues move ahead

The complicated and sensitive issue of terminal dues to either the target or transitional system. Countries stayed true to form, generating heated debates, but this belong to one of five groups, with Group 1 containing did not prevent member countries from adopting impor- the most developed countries and Group 5 the least tant decisions on the subject. Terminal dues are the developed. “It’s an on-going process and the ambition remuneration one country pays the destination country is to have one model for all countries as soon as possi- for processing and delivering a letter-post item in the lat- ble,” says Sweden’s Jan-Erik Leistedt, chair of the Con- ter’s domestic network. gress committee that dealt with terminal dues. The decisions taken at Congress continue the work In the target system, each country has its own started some years ago towards one system of remuner- terminal-dues rates, expressed in a rate per item and a ation for all countries. They confirmed that member rate per kilo. These rates are calculated by taking each countries wished to continue moving towards a universal destination country’s domestic tariffs into account. In system. Currently, the UPU system has two sub-systems: the transitional system, the terminal-dues rate for target and transitional. Depending on a country’s classi- a country are decided by Congress and are part of the fication, linked to its level of development, it belongs UPU Convention.

4/2012 Union Postale · 9 It was originally envisaged that all countries would be UPU’s Quality of Service Fund (QSF). The annual mini- part of the target system by 2017 but the new date mum entitlement from the QSF for all groups will increase is now not likely to be before 2026. from the current 12,565 SDR (8,212 USD) to 20,000 SDR. For the work cycle starting in 2014, the target system The total amount of QSF credits available to all countries will see a number of changes. The concept of separating remains constant at about 10 million SDR per annum. letter-mail items of different formats has been intro- Another Congress decision enables countries belong- duced into the UPU Acts. This means that it will be man- ing to Group 3 to move from the transitional system datory for countries in the target system to carry out for- to the target system in 2016, the middle of the next work mat separation. The rationale is that the format of let- cycle. They include China, the Russian Federation, South ter-post items will be taken into account for setting the Africa, Turkey and Malaysia, as well as Gabon, Mauritius, price for organizing operations and accounting. Lithuania and Costa Rica. New target-system countries In future, two reference domestic tariffs will be used benefit from a long transition period, says Goumas. to calculate the terminal dues rates for countries in the “Once a country passes to the target system, it is consid- target system. One reference rate is currently being used ered a new target country for eight to 12 years. This - that of a 20 g letter. This will be joined by an additional means that it applies the target-system provisions grad- reference rate for 175 g flats. “This will ensure that the ually, allowing it time to implement all the changes terminal-dues rate better represents domestic tariffs of necessary for full participation in the target system,” postal operators,” explains George Goumas, UPU eco- he explains. nomic affairs coordinator. As to why terminal dues are such a sensitive topic, The transitional system will also see some changes Leistedt offers some insight. “It is because money is from 2014. Good news is on hand for countries under involved; there are big sums at stake for some countries. this system that need to modernize their letter-post And if we make any changes to the system, there will operations with a view to ultimately joining the target always be countries that stand to gain or lose.”FM system. They can benefit from increased help from the

Terminal dues: http://www.upu.int/en/activities/terminal-dues-and-transit-charges/key-documents.html

.post gains momentum

Member countries adopted a general resolution by con- Strategy for 2010 – 14,” he said. “In support of these sensus that gave the green light to .post’s continued objectives, Malaysia has enacted new postal legislation development. With the UPU’s sponsored top-level that promotes integrated and modern services in three domain on terra firma, member countries were invited strategic areas: physical, electronic and financial ser- again to join the project. The .post platform extends the vices,” he added. physical postal network into cyberspace, enabling the As for the future, the country is looking forward to the community to offer trusted and secure postal e-services. next generation of postal services. “Given the future strat- During Congress, Malaysia announced that its Com- egy for the postal sector in Malaysia, I believe it will not munications and Multimedia Commission would donate be long before it joins the rest of the UPU members to 100,000 USD to the project. Its chair, Dato’ Mohamed apply for a .post domain,” Dato’ Mohamed said. Sharil Mohamed Tarmizi, recognized as an international Another member country that is excited to be on board expert in internet governance, stated that Malaysia is already is Italy. Poste Italiane, the designated operator, a strong supporter of the .post vision. “We believe the launched the first .post website (http://www.posteitali postal service must evolve with the postal eco-system ane.post) at Congress and has plans for future services of the future to ensure its sustainability and remain branded with the .post suffix. The Italian operator is relevant,” he said. “Being part of the .post domain pre- teaming up with the Netherlands’ PostNL to look at devel- sents opportunities for us to leverage on global postal oping cross-border e-commerce on the platform. Poste innovation.” Italiane is also trialling a postal registered electronic mail Dato’ Mohamed revealed that a .post domain could service with the Posts of China and Macau. play a crucial role in a number of innovations in Malay- Giovanni Brardinoni, Italy’s chair of the .post interim sian postal services, such as a cross-border digital mail group, said the interest shown at Congress in .post was service and an electronic postal payment system. “These from both developed and developing countries alike. are some of the initiatives, which will accelerate the ful- “People are totally convinced that .post will be the right filment of the strategic objectives of our National Postal technical framework for developing real integrated

10 · Union Postale 4/2012 Cover story

services to boost e-commerce for postal operators Member countries and their designated operators inter- because we, the Posts, have all the single parts that com- ested in applying for a domain can register their interest pose the supply chain of e-commerce transactions,” at: https://apply.info.post Brardinoni said. “We have logistics, financial and elec- At the present time, only limited applications are tronic services, so we can provide customers with being processed until the .post user-group is formally set a unique point of access for e-commerce.” up. This is likely to happen at the next Postal Operations To showcase one possibility on .post, the Postal Tech- Council in April 2013. The new group will oversee the nology Centre, the UPU’s technical arm, has created a future development and management of the postal top- global track and trace application which, eventually, will level domain, among other activities. enable customers to track the items they have ordered Once the user group is established, member countries until final delivery. Malaysia Post is among a handful of (either directly or their designated postal operators) will countries participating in its pilot implementation. Using be able to join for a fee and help shape the future of the electronic data that the world’s Posts exchange on . post. This will bring the funding of .post in line with the UPU’s Post * Net network and other interconnected other user-funded subsidiary groups, such as the EMS networks managed by external partners, all designated and Telematics Cooperatives. In 2009, the UPU became operators could, one day, benefit from a comprehensive the first United Nations agency to be granted a spon- end-to-end track and trace system. This would bring tre- sored top-level domain by the Internet for Assigned mendous value to online merchants and customers alike. Names and Numbers Corporation. FM

Securing the supply chain

Renewed focus was placed on Posts securing the global forward will be training postal operators to deal with the supply chain. Thanks to a Congress decision, for the first new challenges of securing the mail. Work will also con- time in its history, the UPU has set minimum mandatory tinue with stakeholders, such as the International Civil Avi- standards on securing the mail. Other decisions were taken ation Organization, World Customs Organization (WCO), to support the on-going work in electronic data inter- European Commission and the United States Transporta- change (EDI) to support customs and transport security. tion Security Administration to move ahead. The new supply chain standards – S 58 and S 59 – give On a parallel track, member countries gave the green Posts a baseline to work from (see Union Postale, cover light to continuing the work to provide electronic informa- story, June 2012). S 58 covers security measures of a more tion to customs and the aviation sector for security pur- general nature. It focuses on facility security, surface trans- poses. This provides wind to the sails of the testing of port, compliance audit programmes, emergency prepared- an electronic pre-advice system. This activity was started ness and business continuity planning, among others. in 2006 by five Posts (Canada, the US, Great Britain, S 59 relates to securing the processing and transport of France and Germany), says Canada Post’s Peter O’Neill. international mail. An important component of the way “These Posts banded together to explore an electronic

4/2012 Union Postale · 11 format for the CN 22 and CN 23 customs declaration,” he demonstration of the UPU’s commitment to enhance trade explains. Soon afterwards, work began on the UPU security using a risk management approach, as embodied Customs Declaration System (CDS), with funds from in the WCO Framework of Standards to Secure and Facili- Canada and the EMS Cooperative. tate Global Trade,” he added. Since then, the group of five Posts have grown to Technical testing of the CDS continues, intending 13 and these countries have participated in a number of to enlarge the circle of participating customs authorities. pilot projects, sending EDI messages containing informa- The WCO has already approved and mapped the ITMATT tion about mail items in the so-called ITMATT format. message to its own data model. It is hoped that Customs Between 2007-11, these Posts exchanged over 17 million will soon be able to use ITMATT data to examine a consign- such messages. The group is expected to exchange some ment’s security status ahead of the items’ arrival to decide 11 million messages in 2012 alone, says O’Neill. whether further action is required when goods physically For its part, the WCO has praised the Congress decision arrive in the country of destination. “Connecting the stake- to provide electronic advice on consignments to customs holders of the global supply chain is vital, not only to main- authorities in advance. “This forward-thinking decision by tain security but also quality of service,” says O’Neill. The the UPU will significantly contribute to global aviation WCO’s Mikuriya also ‘strongly urged Customs administra- security,” said the WCO’s secretary general, Kunio tions and postal services to cooperate at the national level Mikuriya, in a press release in November. “It is a clear to ensure the integrity and security of post’. FM

Return to sender

As e-commerce develops, it is creating tremendous the UPU can piggy-back on already existing systems and opportunities for Posts worldwide. To help Posts meet developments to move forward as efficiently as possible. new consumer needs and seize existing and future “The new service has to meet several international chal- opportunities in e-commerce, several Congress resolu- lenges, such as affordability, traceability and priority pro- tions urge the UPU to further develop cross-border cessing,” he says. The UPU needs to develop a transpar- e-commerce by working on eliminating growth barriers, ent accounting mechanism to ensure reasonable and adapting existing services and enhancing the quality of competitive regional air conveyance costs, work on an service for citizens and businesses, especially small and outward land rate to cover a destination Post’s collection medium-sized ones. costs and coordinate the new service with customs offi- Among the priorities is the creation of return services cials to ensure smooth handling of return merchandise at that would enable customers to easily send back borders. unwanted merchandise to online retailers. As such, To meet these challenges, the UPU will work closely Congress urged the UPU to continue developing a mer- with entities, such as International Post Corporation, the chandise returns service for parcel-post. The 2009 – 2012 EMS Cooperative and the Kahala Post Group, which are Postal Operations Council (POC) already laid out the already operating or exploring return solutions. Aligning groundwork for creating this new proposed optional ser- these activities will save development and maintenance vice and mandated an interim parcels working group to costs, as well as create the momentum to reduce the continue the work between Congress and the first POC ‘time to market’ for the new service and meet deadlines, meeting in April 2013. Congress adopted the necessary adds Magielsen. Work in the letter-post area will also be changes to the UPU Convention, so the new POC will monitored as the UPU tries to develop an effective and focus on completing the specifications for this return ser- competitive merchandise return service for both light- vice and making changes to the UPU parcel-post regula- weight and heavier items. tions and related forms to optimize operational pro- According to the UPU’s 2011 statistics, traffic of inter- cesses and procedures. national parcels was 58 million items. Since 2006, this Joost Magielsen, who looks after the international business segment has experienced annual growth postal parcels network at PostNL, the Dutch designated of 5.3 per cent and it should continue to evolve. The operator, leads the return-service group. He says having Interactive Media in Retail Group expects that total the new optional service ready by January 1, 2014, when business-to-consumer e-commerce sales – estimated at the updated UPU Convention and regulations come into 690 billion EUR (887 billion USD) in 2011 – will pass the effect post-Congress, will be challenging, but he hopes trillion-euro mark in 2013. RL

12 · Union Postale 4/2012 Cover story

Focus on quality

Crucial to shaping 2013 – 16 was the adoption of the also decided that ‘the standard and target should apply to Union’s new road map – the Doha Postal Strategy. Mem- the international priority letter post between those areas ber countries gave their seal of approval to the new strat- and/or cities that are the most important in terms of inter- egy, which sought to build on the base established by its national postal exchanges in each member country’. predecessor. In the face of changing market conditions, The Quality of Service Fund, which finances projects the strategy is an important guide to help postal opera- to improve quality levels of letter-post for beneficiary tors modernize and develop the network. Posts, was given a further stay of execution. Countries Work in the new cycle will be aligned to the strategy’s were in no doubt about the benefit of continuing the four main goals: improving the interoperability of the fund’s activities after a decade in existence. The date international postal network, providing technical knowl- for dissolving the trust has been extended from Decem- edge and expertise related to the postal sector; promot- ber 31, 2016, until December 31, 2020. ing innovative products and services (developing the The fund’s link to terminal dues – the system of remu- physical, financial and electronic dimensions of the net- neration for postal operators – was reconfirmed. This work); and fostering sustainable development of the means that a proportion of terminal dues will still be postal sector, (which covers remuneration systems). used to feed the fund. There was broad consensus on adapting the universal The Global Monitoring System (GMS) received a strong postal service mission in the light of changing market show of support. The system monitors the quality of ser- realities and new technologies. International trade was vice of letter-post items using radio frequency identifi­ also given a boost as Congress adopted proposals cation technology. As GMS currently only measures qual- to enable the postal sector expand its involvement in ity of service on the inbound stretch, a resolution was enabling businesses to move their goods across borders adopted on extending it to cover end-to-end measure- with ease. Countries also pledged to explore how the ment to meet user needs and on a ‘pay to play’ basis. postal network could better foster financial inclusion of Decisions were also taken on securing funding for the disadvantaged parts of the population normally excluded UPU’s Emergency and Solidarity Fund and increasing the from mainstream financial services like banking. scope of postage-free items for the blind. During the UPU’s first ministerial conference during Congress, the message was clear: many governments are New leaders committed to a future for postal services and clear on Other highlights included the elections of the new direc- the important role Posts play in socio-economic develop- tor general and deputy director general, who will take ment. More than 60 ministers attended, with a packed up office in January 2013. The nail-biting finish saw Ken- house listening to the discussions. Delegates also wel- ya’s Bishar Hussein elected over Uruguay’s Serrana Bas- comed a declaration on the importance of good address- sini by 87 votes to 72 to become the director gener- ing systems. al-elect. Switzerland’s Pascal Clivaz won the deputy posi- tion against the United States’ Dennis Delahanty. Boosting levels Shortly after Congress wound up, the UPU bodies – Countries reiterated their commitment to increasing the the Postal Operations Council (POC) and the Council of quality of postal services, which featured heavily among Administration – had their constituent meetings. One the discussions. They decided that the percentage of inter- major result was the signing off of new structures for national priority letter-post items being delivered by the both bodies. The changes to the POC are more drastic. standard of J+5 (the fifth day after posting) should reach New committees have been created for supply chain a target of 85 per cent by 2016. This is to be achieved integration and e-services. A new physical services com- gradually over the work cycle, with incremental increases mittee covers both parcels and letter post in the areas each year. The target is currently at 80 per cent. It was of remuneration and quality of service. Fm Feature

Postal Operations Council 2013 – 2016 Argentina Australia Bangladesh Barbados Brazil Bulgaria Burkina Faso Canada Republic of Congo Côte d’Ivoire Costa Rica Ecuador Egypt France Gabon Greece India Italy Japan Republic of Korea Kuwait Malawi Mexico Morocco Norway Pakistan Poland Portugal Qatar Romania Russian Federation Saudi Arabia South Africa Sudan Tanzania Thailand Turkey Uganda Ukraine United States Viet Nam Algeria Argentina Australia Austria Belgium Benin Brazil Bulgaria Canada China Cuba Ecuador Egypt France Germany Ghana Britain Great Greece India Indonesia Italy Japan Kenya Kuwait Malaysia Netherlands New Zealand Norway Qatar Russian Federation Saudi Arabia South Africa Spain Switzerland Thailand Tunisia Turkey Ukraine United Arab Emirates Unites States

“The UPU community is a strong framework in which committees and working groups, as well as with the Inter- member countries can provide mutual assistance to over- national Bureau, will be essential. I also believe that graph- come challenges that are impossible for any one member ical visualization of the discussion materials, such as pro- to solve alone. posals, resolutions and reports, would contribute greatly I believe that the chair should not try to create solu- to more intelligible and smoother discussions. To ensure tions but rather endeavour to facilitate discussions transparent decision-making, it will be imperative to con- between member countries in order to find better solu- sider the views of non-POC countries.“ tions from a neutral standpoint. During the coming POC meetings, I would like to fos- ter swift and transparent decision-making. To reach deci- Masahiko Metoki, Japan sions swiftly, close teamwork among the chairs of the Chair, postal operations council 2013-16

Management POC Plenary Consultative Committee Committee C Japan C ALACOPP C Japan VC Brazil (Representatives of the POC: VC Brazil Benin, Greece, Italy, Spain)

Supply Chain Markets Physical E-Services Postal Financial Direct Integration 1 Development 2 Services 3 4 Services 5 Reporting Bodies CA Plenary Management Conference on C France C Australia C Belgium, Canada C China, Italy C India, Russian Fed. C Qatar Committee Postal Regulation VC America VC Great Britain VC Malaysia, South Africa VC Kuwait VC Italy, Kenya VC Argentina, Bulgaria, Côte d’Ivoire, Turkey

Standards Market Research Products Strategy Products and Services Regulations and EMS C South Africa C Benin and Integration Development Standards Cooperative (USB) C Great Britain C Netherlands C Ukraine C Israel Direct Marketing Governance and Finance and Strategy Development Consultative Operations and Remuneration Advisory Board Interconnectivity Products and Services Quality of Regulatory Issues Administration Cooperation Committee Accounting Review (Letter Post) Development 1 2 3 4 C C Saudia Arabia Service Fund C Norway C India, Japan C South Africa C Barbados C ALACOPP Greece C Spain C Tunisia C Nigeria VC Saudia Arabia VC Canada VC France (Representatives of CA: World Association Knowledge Argentina, Japan, Transport Remuneration Partnership for the Development Development Morocco, Russian Fed.) C Japan (Parcel Post) Development UPU*Clearing (USB) of Philately and Training Technical Coopera- C Malaysia C C Denmark Reform of the Union Finance and Future Strategy C Russian Fed. C India Italy (joint CA/POC) Internal Audit tion and Postal UPU-IATA (joint CA/POC) Sector Development Quality Measurement Telematics Contact Committee Partnership and Postal Financial (joint CA/POC) Applied Postal and Improvement Cooperative (USB) Economics and Capacity Building Services (USB) P&B Prioritization and (Letter Post) C Human Resources Postal Security Statistics C Algeria IGC India Italy Acts of the Union Allocation C Australia Postal Sector C United States C Switzerland (joint CA/POC) Macroeconomics E-Commerce .post (USB) Quality of Service Interim steering UPU-ICAO C Brazil Monitoring and Link User Group committee Regulatory Issues Sustainable Contact Committee Evaluation Development C Denmark C Italy (joint CA/POC) Governance Issues Customs Quality Measurement on Remuneration C Canada and Improvement (Parcel Post) UPU-WCO C Norway Contact Committee

Addressing C Saudia Arabia Council of Administration 2013 – 2016 Argentina Australia Bangladesh Barbados Brazil Bulgaria Burkina Faso Canada Republic of Congo Côte d’Ivoire Costa Rica Ecuador Egypt France Gabon Greece India Italy Japan Republic of Korea Kuwait Malawi Mexico Morocco Norway Pakistan Poland Portugal Qatar Romania Russian Federation Saudi Arabia South Africa Sudan Tanzania Thailand Turkey Uganda Ukraine United States Viet Nam Algeria Argentina Australia Austria Belgium Benin Brazil Bulgaria Canada China Cuba Ecuador Egypt France Germany Ghana Britain Great Greece India Indonesia Italy Japan Kenya Kuwait Malaysia Netherlands New Zealand Norway Qatar Russian Federation Saudi Arabia South Africa Spain Switzerland Thailand Tunisia Turkey Ukraine United Arab Emirates Unites States

“Implementing the Doha Congress decisions will involve To be effective, the Council’s chair must always seek major challenges, since the objectives set by Congress solutions that satisfy all parties. Of course, that is not an are ambitious when measured against the UPU’s availa- easy task, given that it is hard to find concerted solutions, ble resources. (which I personally prefer to unilateral ones), when objec- The Council of Administration’s chair, therefore, has a tives are not compatible. Each chair brings his own per- challenging role to play, since he must have a good sonal touch to how he deals with issues, approaches knowledge of the matters discussed and continually negotiations, and seeks solutions in difficult situations.“ strive to coordinate the Council’s activities with those of the other UPU bodies, namely the Postal Operations Abdul Rahman Al Aqaily, Qatar Council and the International Bureau. chair, Council of Administration 2013-16

“I believe the first and most important challenge is to lenge is obviously not achievable in the short term, but it draw a clear map of what the Consultative Committee is will allow us to draw the path to be followed in the next Management Consultative POC Plenary at present and, based on this, to redefine the mission four years.” Committee Committee C Japan C ALACOPP C Japan and view of the committee for the next period. This chal- Marcela Marón, ALACOPP, chair, Consultative Committee VC Brazil (Representatives of the POC: VC Brazil Benin, Greece, Italy, Spain)

Supply Chain Markets Physical E-Services Postal Financial Direct Integration 1 Development 2 Services 3 4 Services 5 Reporting Bodies CA Plenary Management Conference on C France C Australia C Belgium, Canada C China, Italy C India, Russian Fed. C Qatar Committee Postal Regulation VC America VC Great Britain VC Malaysia, South Africa VC Kuwait VC Italy, Kenya VC Argentina, Bulgaria, Côte d’Ivoire, Turkey

Standards Market Research Products Strategy Products and Services Regulations and EMS C South Africa C Benin and Integration Development Standards Cooperative (USB) C Great Britain C Netherlands C Ukraine C Israel Direct Marketing Governance and Finance and Strategy Development Consultative Operations and Remuneration Advisory Board Interconnectivity Products and Services Quality of Regulatory Issues Administration Cooperation Committee Accounting Review (Letter Post) Development 1 2 3 4 C C Saudia Arabia Service Fund C Norway C India, Japan C South Africa C Barbados C ALACOPP Greece C Spain C Tunisia C Nigeria VC Saudia Arabia VC Canada VC France (Representatives of CA: World Association Knowledge Argentina, Japan, Transport Remuneration Partnership for the Development Development Morocco, Russian Fed.) C Japan (Parcel Post) Development UPU*Clearing (USB) of Philately and Training Technical Coopera- C Malaysia C C Denmark Reform of the Union Finance and Future Strategy C Russian Fed. C India Italy (joint CA/POC) Internal Audit tion and Postal UPU-IATA (joint CA/POC) Sector Development Quality Measurement Telematics Contact Committee Partnership and Postal Financial (joint CA/POC) Applied Postal and Improvement Cooperative (USB) Economics and Capacity Building Services (USB) P&B Prioritization and (Letter Post) C Human Resources Postal Security Statistics C Algeria IGC India Italy Acts of the Union Allocation C Australia Postal Sector C United States C Switzerland (joint CA/POC) Macroeconomics E-Commerce .post (USB) Quality of Service Interim steering UPU-ICAO C Brazil Monitoring and Link User Group committee Regulatory Issues Sustainable Contact Committee Evaluation Development C Denmark C Italy (joint CA/POC) Governance Issues Customs Quality Measurement on Remuneration C Canada and Improvement C Chair (Parcel Post) VC Vice-chair UPU-WCO C Norway IGC Interim group chair Contact Committee P&B Programme & budget 1 Committee number USB User-funded subsidiary body Addressing C Saudia Arabia Feature

Ministers stand up for postal services

During the Doha Congress, the ministerial conference saw postal movers and shakers from governments share their thoughts on the relevance of postal services today.

The gathering of dozens of ministers and business lead- cations. This would use technology to provide all with By Jenifer Fenton ers from the postal sector addressed pressing challenges access to state services and help develop small busi- facing the industry as it strives to remain relevant in light nesses and trade. “ICTs are constantly changing ... every of the increasingly sophisticated and changing needs of day that goes by presents us with new challenges,” people and businesses. he added. But the postal sector needs to be ready Information and communications technologies (ICTs) to respond to those changes, he underlined. may have threatened the traditional role of the postal Sustaining the industry in light of financial challenges industry but they have also provided an opportunity for was also discussed. Due to the global economic crisis, the countries to transform services, said several ministers postal industry has to emerge from the crisis with a new during the first session, which focused on the future of paradigm, remarked Philip Jennings, UNI Global Union’s the postal industry in light of the digital revolution. general secretary. Sustainable growth would require sus- tainable infrastructure – one that connects all citizens, New world all consumers and all businesses, he added. “The role of the Post will change completely going for- The Post’s role in fostering both economic and social ward,” said Omobola Johnson, Nigerian minister of com- inclusion was also under the spotlight. A sovereign govern- munication technology. However, the Post is still rele- ment can use postal networks to deliver services, which vant. “People have a need for services… that can be may have been impossible a decade ago, said Sachin Pilot, delivered over a postal network leveraging ICTs,” she the Indian minister of state for communications and infor- added. mation technology. India has embarked on a project that Russia revealed its dream of a network that would will cost one billion USD over five years to provide ICTs and give everyone an official electronic address, “a kind of the necessary training to all of its 155,000 post offices, 95 single window for electronic services”, said Nikolay Niki- per cent of which are in rural areas. forov, Russian minister of telecoms and mass communi-

16 · Union Postale 4/2012 (l. to r.) Andreas Taprantzis, presenter, Hamadoun Touré, International Telecommunications Union’s secretary general, Dina Pule, South African minister, Nikolay Nikiforov, Russian minister, Mongi Marzouk, Tunisian minister, David Foster, Al Jazeera English (Photo: Nawras Alfawal)

The postal community must consider local needs and However, the sole purpose of the US Postal Ser- contexts and also be aware that different products pres- vice – meeting the needs of the customers – has not ent different risks and require different delivery channels, changed. Donahoe added that the USPS will expand and said the Netherlands’ HRH Princess Máxima, also the be profitable in the future because of a comprehensive United Nations Secretary General’s Special Advocate for plan designed to “increase the growth of hard copies Inclusive Finance for Development. “One of the most and package business” and through improvements to important roles of government is creating the connected customer service and access. ecosystem that encourages and creates a vibrant market As UPU Director General Edouard Dayan closed the with diverse providers,” she added. This requires infra- ministerial meeting, he called on all to build together a structure, regulation, efficiency, competition, consumer sustainable future for the postal sector through innova- production and coordination. tion and diversification. For the Post to play its role, in-depth change is required in the way in which the pos- Postal speak tal sector and the UPU pursue common objectives to be Designated operators also had their say during the con- players in economic and social development for the good ference. Patrick Donahoe, the United States’ Postal Ser- of populations and businesses alike. jf vice’s postmaster general, revealed that the US postal industry has been forced by declining revenues, caused Jenifer Fenton is a freelance journalist based in Doha, Qatar, who by the continuing shift of communication to the internet, is also a news producer with Al Jazeera English. to become “leaner, faster and stronger”.

Learn how ministers view postal services: http://news.upu.int/multimedia/videos/postal-perceptions

4/2012 Union Postale · 17 Feature

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Photos: Nawras Alfawal

1. Anna Tibaijuka introduces the addressing declaration 2. Delegates at the Qatar National Congress Centre 3. UPU Deputy Director General Guozhang Huang 4. UPU Director General Edouard Dayan 5. Inside Hall 1, Qatar National Congress Centre

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Congress photos http://www.flickr.com/universal_postal_union

18 · Union Postale 4/2012 Countries declare good intentions

How addressing infrastructure contributes to social and economic develop- ment and can transform lives in developing countries was discussed at the 25th Universal Postal Congress in Doha, Qatar.

The UPU’s member countries have adopted an address- While mail volumes are declining worldwide, South Africa By Christina Maria Paschyn ing declaration, which reaffirms their commitment to is bucking the trend, said Pule. During the past five years, improving and expanding addressing systems in their the country has experienced a four-to-five-per cent own lands and across the globe. growth in its national mail volumes because of an increase Anna Tibaijuka, Tanzanian minister of lands, housing in business-to-consumer correspondence. and human settlements development, presented the dec- laration to delegates. “In a world undergoing fundamen- Legal identity tal changes, including tremendous population growth A representative of the UPU Consultative Committee in urban areas, which mostly affects developing coun- described how addresses contribute to national wealth by tries, it is our responsibility as local, national or interna- providing families and businesses with a legal identity tional leaders to make sure that nobody is left behind,” through which to access bank and money-lending ser- Tibaijuka said. “I myself am convinced that the imple- vices. “I call it the virtualist cascade: with addresses, mentation of addressing systems will result in improve- a thousand rural families [in South Africa] can now buy ments in public services, such as sanitation, hygiene and furniture on credit. The furniture stores in nearby towns water supply, and in many more fundamental services,” need more clerks, delivery people, furniture, and the sup- she added. pliers to the stores need more craftsmen to make more The declaration summarizes the main conclusions furniture,” he explained. “New addresses can make new of the recently released publication linked to the UPU’s economic activity.” “Addressing the world – an address for everyone” initia- The potential of addresses to generate revenue and tive. One is that addressing systems can help establish enhance countrywide prosperity extends to developed legal identities for marginalized individuals, such as peo- nations as well. Denmark, for instance, decided in 2002 ple living in rural areas or informal settlements. to forgo fees for its address database as long as busi- This is a particularly pressing concern as some four nesses disclosed the revenues they earned through using billion people worldwide are currently excluded from the the data. The country calculated that, during a period of rule of law and, therefore, cannot claim their basic rights four years, the database cost about four million EUR (five as citizens because they lack a legal identity, says the million USD) to maintain. But its benefit to businesses United Nations Development Programme’s Commission exceeded this overhead: during the same period, the on the Legal Empowerment of the Poor. Addresses can 1,200 largest users of the database reported direct sales also improve the distribution of business and governmen- of about 72 million EUR. tal services and resources. Other delegates highlighted how improved addressing infrastructure had benefitted their respective countries. Reaching all A representative from Saudi Arabia described how tech- South African Minister of Communications Dina Pule, nological innovations, such as GPS-devices and smart voiced her support for the declaration. “The postal busi- phones, have enabled the Gulf kingdom’s national Post ness should be truly universal. I believe the right to com- to identify addresses better and deliver mail more effi- municate for every human being has become of funda- ciently. Likewise, a delegate from Ecuador extolled her mental importance in the modern era.” nation’s recent efforts to implement a six-digit postal Pule described South Africa’s success in expanding its code system for the country’s 14 million inhabitants. The addressing system: it provided addresses to some six mil- new system, she said, “will consolidate the postal revolu- lion additional households from 2005-9 and imple- tion in our country”. CmP mented geo-coding for each address in the country. “[Addresses] improve emergency services to rural com- Christina Maria Paschyn is a freelance journalist based in Doha, munities and education services. Without an address, it is Qatar, who is also a communication lecturer in the country’s nearly impossible to access these services,” she explained. Northwestern University.

4/2012 Union Postale · 19 20 · Union Postale 4/2012 The interview

In good hands

When Bishar Abdirahman Hussein won the race to be the new director general of the UPU from 2013, he became the first sub-Saharan African to be elected to the top job.

To many in the UPU community, Ambassador Bishar Union Postale: What kind of leadership style can By Faryal Mirza Hussein is already a familiar face and can be called a true be expected when you take up the top job at the UPU? Photos: postal veteran. Bishar Hussein: The UPU member countries expect Nawras Alfawal With almost two decades under his belt with the Ken- nothing short of results from its secretariat, the Inter­ yan Post, he has spent almost as much time again within national Bureau (IB). My primary duty as director the UPU environment. The pinnacle of that time was general will be to ensure that these expectations are spent as chair of the UPU Council of Administration (CA) met with professionalism, efficiency and high ethical from 2009 – 12. standards. Shortly after his historic win, the former ambassador To this end, I will keep to strict deadlines and effi- expressed ‘heartfelt appreciation’ to his postal coll­ cient service-delivery from all cadres of IB staff. eagues for ‘their confidence and faith throughout [his] I am a pragmatic person, who will deal with situations campaign’. as they arise. I will involve IB employees in the decision- He also pledged to countries that had not voted for making process where their skills, competence and him that he ‘would double [his] efforts to earn their trust knowledge are required. and confidence’ during the same speech. Creativity, innovation and ideas are what drives Hot on the news of his win, Union Postale met the organizations and sets them apart. These are the former CEO of the Postal Corporation of Kenya to find talents I will look out for. I will encourage a team spirit out more about the person, who will lead the Union that will inspire trust, confidence, and respect where from January 2013 for four years. staff can realize their individual and ‘corporate’ goals. However, discipline, respect for authority and chain of command will be observed according to the laid down regulations.

As the new director general, what will you bring to the job that no other predecessor has brought to it so far? Every director general has his own style of management, perspective and focus. I will come with mine. That said, I will build trust and confidence among the IB staff and encourage team work to achieve the best possible results with the limited resources at hand.

4/2012 Union Postale · 21 The interview

“ My tough childhood … instilled in me the virtues of modesty, patience, perseverance, hard work, self-reliance, cooperation and respect for others.”

I will also involve and engage governments, regulators, What kind of beginnings did the young Bishar have? restricted unions, regional coordinators and other I was born and brought up in the remote semi-arid stakeholders to develop the postal sector. Enhancing region of north-eastern Kenya. The region receives very cooperation between member states through building little rainfall annually and this dictates the lifestyle of consensus on important issues and mutual under­ the predominantly pastoralist communities there. standing on divergent viewpoints is vital. The inhabitants of this region move from one place We must focus ­on the use of technology to create new to another in search of water and pasture for innovations and the diversification of the postal business, their livestock, which is the primary source of their while enhancing its traditional services. livelihoods. New sources of financing for postal development will As a young boy, I tended to my family’s herds of be sought and private-sector participation encouraged cows, goats and camels when I was not in school. This where appropriate and necessary. gave me a great outdoor experience during my early childhood that I always remember with the fondest of How can the UPU community benefit from your memories. long-time operational experience? Getting formal education was and still is a major I am confident that my experience will help to translate challenge in this region. Basic social infrastructure, like the Congress decisions and resolutions into concrete roads, telecommunications and postal services, educa- actions that will benefit the UPU member countries. tional institutions and health facilities, remain underde- I have close to three decades of postal and diplo- veloped to this day. Many brilliant children do not often matic experience where I have had the opportunity to get the opportunity to pursue their education and manage institutions and resources. I have good knowl- achieve their dreams. edge of the postal industry from operational, executive and market viewpoints. What imprint did your childhood leave on you? As CA chairman during the past work cycle, I was I consider myself very fortunate to have survived that involved in the preparatory work for the Doha Congress challenging environment and to have come this far. On and have a good grasp of the current issues facing the the flip side, my tough childhood would prove to be my UPU and the postal sector. biggest asset in my later life. It defined my character, hardened my spirit, strengthened my resolve and sharp- What in your view is the single most pressing challenge ened my instincts for every challenge that comes my way. facing the postal sector today? The harsh environment in which I grew up instilled in A lack of adequate financing for the development me the virtues of modesty, patience, perseverance, hard of the Post is one of the most pressing challenges facing work, self-reliance, cooperation and respect for others, many postal organizations today. Technological which are essential values in a multilateral and multicul- advancement, rapid changes in the communications tural environment like the UPU. market and globalization have exerted serious chal- lenges on the Post. When did you join the postal service? Enhancing the ability of UPU member countries I joined the Kenya Post & Telecommunications Corpo­ to keep up pace with these changes requires substantial ration (KPTC) in 1984 straight from university and did an investments to modernize the postal infrastructure. intensive one-year course in postal operations and man- Most postal organizations are finding it increasingly diff­ agement at the postal training college in Nairobi. The icult to raise the necessary capital to invest in their courses covered every aspect of the postal business. networks. This situation was further aggravated by the recent world economic crisis.

22 · Union Postale 4/2012 Seconds after the election results are announced, delegates rush to congratulate the director-general elect

Where did you go from there? quickly set up a lean and efficient management team I worked in the field and at headquarters in various that organized the businesses units and operations managerial capacities up to 1999 when the government with military precision. split the then giant KPTC into three entities: Telkom We reviewed our network, enhanced our strengths, Kenya Ltd, the Communications Commission of Kenya fixed our weakness, confronted threats and maximized and the Postal Corporation of Kenya (PCK) on July 1, the opportunities in the market. We rallied the staff, 1999. I was appointed the PCK’s first postmaster general. created team spirit and enforced strict discipline. We defined our new vision, mission and set strategic What kind of organization did you take over in 1999? plans for the corporation and then embarked on We had to literally build the Kenyan Post from ground aggressive reform programmes that yielded positive zero without any government subventions. The PCK results immediately. was launched without sufficient funds for its opera- We cleared most of the liabilities and registered a tions. The new entity inherited huge debts from modest profit by the end of the first year. By the second the defunct KPTC, largely in the form of unpaid bills year, we were out of the woods, having laid a solid from suppliers, remittances in transit, statutory foundation for a vibrant and self-sustaining postal payments and a host of other liabilities. enterprise. We did not have money to pay salaries to the 5,500 employees and the costs of the day-to-day oper- Somewhere thousands of kilometres from Nairobi, ations to start with. in Kenya’s North, there is a child looking after livestock, wondering what to do with their life. What advice What happened next under your leadership? would you give them? We had four very important assets – a well trained and I would tell them to look beyond their present experienced workforce, a wide postal network, a circumstances, dream big and work hard in order to long history of trust and confidence of our customers realize their dreams. The sky is the limit for them. FM and the general public and the will to succeed. We

4/2012 Union Postale · 23 Five minutes

Familiar face, new office

Pascal Clivaz of Switzerland will become the 15th deputy director general of the UPU International Bureau (IB) from January 2013.

In 2012, Switzerland celebrated two milestones: 10 years adopt a more rigorous approach. So, just like other By Rhéal LeBlanc as a member of the United Nations and the election of organizations, it will need to take a look inwards, in a Swiss national, Pascal Clivaz, as the UPU’s next deputy particular to maintain a sound financial balance. In fact, director general. we will need to reconcile the ambitious demands on Clivaz, a former Swiss Post executive, joined the UPU our human and financial resources to manage in 2005 as finance director and later added strategic plan- projects on the one hand, and the UPU’s steady but ning to his duties. At 46, he is considered as one of the limited resources on the other. youngest executives in the history of the organization. Are there any specific projects that you will pay special Union Postale: How do you envision the role of attention to in your new role? deputy director general? I will manage whatever projects the director general Pascal Clivaz: First and foremost, I see it as a role to decides to give to me. Obviously, we need to work support the work of the director general. We have closely on a number of them. a roadmap - the Doha Postal Strategy - and Congress By launching .post with our member countries dur- has adopted a number of resolutions reflecting the ing the Doha Congress, we successfully navigated the concrete will of the member countries. UPU into the digital dimension. This dimension requires We must, therefore, focus all our energies on doing more professionalism and reactivity on our part. Other what Congress has asked us to do, while taking pilot projects are also planned, including those on account of the ceiling on expenditure. Since the director financial services. general holds political power, it will be my job to sup- We will also need to ensure the development of port him with the day-to-day business. traditional areas, such as parcels, which are set to take on even greater importance in the postal sector. What are the main challenges that lie ahead for the So, it will really take two of us to share the work- UPU in the coming years? load. I should focus more on the areas I know best, One of the objectives is to concentrate the relevant such as support activities and management of resources synergies to implement the decisions taken by and staff. I do not anticipate there being any problems Congress. Doing so will help the director general and in defining our respective roles, based on the issues myself report back to the 2016 UPU Congress in that need to be tackled. Turkey with as few problems as possible. This will be a challenge at many levels, in particular in terms of resources. Congress confirmed that the UPU must

24 · Union Postale 4/2012 Bringing IB experience to the job (Photo: Nawras Alfawal)

You refer to the importance of the digital era and of the role the postal sector could play in their national its impact on the postal sector. Will the future of postal economies, especially in this time of crisis. services be a completely digital one? The postal sector is often one of the biggest employ- The physical network will always play an important role ers in a country. In terms of a public service, these min- in the sector. Of course, in a new age where technol- isters have a marvellous tool called the Post at their dis- ogy and information play an increasingly important role posal. It can become a valuable public policy instru- in the economy and trade, Posts will be forced to take ment, provided that they review the mandate and mis- on a slightly different role. That being said, it will never sions of their public postal enterprises. be possible to virtualize some products and services. For me, it is important to define the appropriate What do you expect from the International Bureau postal economic model at the worldwide level, accord- during the coming cycle? ing to the different geographical areas and ‘types’ of We expect a great deal from the International Bureau countries. Depending on existing national legislation, a staff, so that together we can translate the Doha number of measures are possible. roadmap into results. But I remain steadfast in my con- It will also be necessary to take a look into regulation viction that we will be proud of our record when the to gauge the freedom that postal enterprises have been time comes to present it in Turkey in 2016, thanks to the given to accomplish their future missions. Today, it is hard work of all those who will strive to achieve the crucial that the sector be an essential component of objectives set. RL economic development. This is in line with our world postal strategy. We must conduct an in-depth review of the economic models that cover the physical, financial and digital aspects of the Post.

The UPU has worked hard to get governments more interested in the multiple opportunities of the postal sector as a driver of national economies. How well has this message been received? During Congress, we organized a ministerial conference to build momentum and to make a new deal with governments. Ministers attending were receptive to the messages we imparted. They were appreciative

4/2012 Union Postale · 25 Feature

The man, the myth, the stamps

As Mauritius Post celebrates its 240th anniversary in 2012, Union Postale takes a look at the world’s most sought-after stamps, which came from this island nation.

In 1847, an engraver in Port Louis, Mauritius, laid the “Paid” in its place. However, the franking stamp used by By Kayla Redstone words “Post Office Mauritius” into a copper plate, una- the Mauritian post office used the same wording. ware that the stamps he was about to create would It would perhaps follow that he matched his stamps to become among the most expensive and sought-after the franking stamp. in the world. The two stamps, the Penny Orange and The stamps were finished on September 20, 1847, Two Penny Blue, are the only ones in the world bearing and Mauritius became the first British colony outside the words “Post Office” rather than the usual “Post Britain to issue stamps. The stamps went on sale on Sep- Paid”. This one simple difference is one reason collectors tember 22, but it is rumoured that some of the stamps bid millions for copies of the rare stamps. were released to a very special client a day earlier on So, was the wording a simple mistake by the engraver, September 21: Lady Elizabeth Gomm, the governor of Joseph Osmond Barnard, or was it planned all along? Mauritius’s wife. To this day, the answer remains unclear. Fancy dress ball Legends At the time the stamps were printed, the previously French Very little is known about Barnard other than he came island had already been colonized by Britain for about 40 from Portsmouth, England, and arrived in Mauritius as years. However, despite English being the new official lan- a stowaway in 1838. A year later, Barnard placed an guage, French was still dominant and tensions were high. advertisement in Le Cernéen, a Mauritian newspaper, There is speculation that Lady Gomm’s fancy dress offering his services as a miniature painter and engraver. ball on September 30, 1847, was a way of easing ten- In November 1846, Barnard issued an estimate for sions between the Anglophone and Francophone com- printing the stamps; he would charge 10 shillings per munities. The rumour that the stamps were released ear- thousand stamps, plus 10 pounds for the copper engrav- lier to her for mailing the invitations spurred the belief ing plate. On the soft 82 mm by 63 mm piece of copper, that the stamps were made specifically for this diplo- he carefully eng­raved the two templates, complete with matic purpose. the same profile of Queen Victoria wearing a diadem Proving the connection between the ball and the used on the first British stamps, with the words “Post stamps was archivist and writer, Helen Morgan’s goal Office Mauritius” around the border. Then he stamped, while researching her book, Blue Mauritius: The Hunt for by hand, 500 copies of each value. the World’s Most Valuable Stamps. “To me, this is the Philatelists over the decades have argued about holy grail of research about these stamps, to find some- whether or not the word “Office” was a feeble error by thing in writing, which connects the ball and the stamps, Barnard, who had really meant to inscribe the word but I never did,” says Morgan.

26 · Union Postale 4/2012 Morgan says evidence connecting the stamps to the ball Edward Francis & Co. in Port Louis, Mauritius, to the is purely anecdotal. Even so, Morgan, like other coll­ectors, wine merchants Ducau & Lurguie in Bordeaux, France, still believes there is a connection between the stamps it bore both stamps. According to Morgan, this was the and the ball. For this, she blames three identical enve- wrong postage for an international letter at that time. lopes, each containing the Penny Orange stamp required A second letter to Bordeaux contained only a Two Penny for local delivery addressed to M. Alcide Marquay, Blue, which was the correct rate. Ed. Duvivier Esq., and H. Adam Esq. Morgan says the first Bordeaux Junr. respectively. letter was an “aberration” and given Although Morgan says no invita- that stamps were a relatively new tions were found inside the enve- invention at the time, mistakes were lopes, the similarity between them is to be expected. “There are always the reason philatelists have con- hiccups because people don’t under- nected them with the ball in the stand the system and I think that’s past. “An anonymous correspondent how you can explain some of these wrote to one of the philatelic journals anomalies,” she says. The simple in 1897 and he made the connec- mistake of using both stamps – a tion,” says Morgan. “Once, there difference of one penny – has caused were three of them. I think people the value of the letter to soar. Its last looked at these envelopes … and said buyer bid 3.8 million USD for it at ‘They are all the same. They must have an auction in 1993, making it the been used for a similar purpose’.” most expensive philatelic item in history. The cover has not exchanged Bordeaux Cover hands since. While these covers may stir debate Only 12 blue and 15 orange over whether or not the stamps stamps are in existence today. Only were produced for the ball, one 27 stamps left for the hopeful Post prized letter cover proves that they were not solely Office Mauritius fanatics to dream of getting their hands produced to mail the invitations. It was in 1902 that on, should they come across the fortune necessary a schoolboy digging through his wine-merchant father’s to even make a bid. kr dusty old business correspondence, hoping to find a “Post Office” stamp, was richly rewarded. The letter Kayla Redstone was an intern with the UPU Communication he found is now called the Bordeaux Cover. Sent from Programme when she wrote this article.

Specimens of these stamps have the two extremely rare mint stamps Sistine Chapel,” Richon enthuses. By Susan Vogel-Misicka changed hands repeatedly over the back home to Mauritius. At that The stamps’ monetary value has years. In 1893, one of each sold for same auction, the Bordeaux Cover skyrocketed over the past two dec- 680 GBP – the highest price ever went to a collector in Singapore for ades. According to Richon, the mu- paid for two stamps up until then. In almost four million USD. seum had to insure the stamps for 1988, the Two Penny Blue alone As Richon says, these stamps help some 5 million USD for an exhibition went for 750,000 USD. tell the story of the introduction of in Berlin in 2011. The giant sale of the century fol- postage during the 19th century, as Though some historians would lowed shortly after, explains Emma- well as of colonial administration argue that the stamp designer was nuel Richon, the curator of the Blue and the engraving process. “It’s so an absent-minded fool for writing Penny Museum in Port Louis, Mauri- much in a square centimetre!” “Post Office Mauritius”, Richon dis- tius. “It was a unique occasion to To display the stamps in style, the agrees. “Think about the efficiency buy these two stamps,” says Richon bank opened the Blue Penny Muse- of Joseph Osmond Barnard in terms of the auction, held in Zurich, Swit- um in 2001. “We are very proud to of promoting the country of zerland, on November 10, 1993. It be able to present them to the pub- Mauritius. He was a genius!” svm was there that a consortium of lic every day in the country where Mauritian companies, headed by they were conceived and made. Susan Vogel-Misicka is a freelance jour- the Mauritius Commercial Bank, I think it is exactly how an Italian nalist, based in Berne, Switzerland, who paid about 2.6 million USD to bring would feel about Michelangelo’s also works as a journalist for swissinfo. Market focus

Tokyo takes next step in privatization

The long-running saga of Japan Post’s privatization inched forward again in late October, with the firm’s holding company unveiling a plan for its postal services arm to go public in the latter part of 2015.

Japan Post Holdings Co. presented As a government-owned corpora- Next move By Julian Ryall its proposals to Mikio Shimoji, the tion that provided postal and pack- Its hand forced by the disasters of minister overseeing privatization of age delivery services, banking facili- last year, the government passed delivery services, on October 26. The ties and life insurance, Japan Post a law in April that reviewed the full floatation on the stock market would had more than 400,000 employees privatization option but left the gov- be one of the largest in corporate – making it the largest employer ernment with a degree of influence Japan’s history and the sale of in the country – and a network of over services, clearing the way for around two-thirds of government 24,700 post offices. the listing to go ahead. “This entire shares could raise as much as 7 tril- issue has been a long-term thing lion JPY (87.5 billion USD). Large network that has gone back and forth for Shortly after, Koriki Jojima, the fi­­ Taking advantage of the fact that years, but this latest move does sug- nance minister, told a press confer- post offices were present in virtually gest that it is making a comeback,” ence that the government was selling every community across the country said Martin Schulz, senior economist its shares to fund reconstruction – something that private banks could with the Fujitsu Research Institute. efforts after the March 2011 earth- never hope to emulate – Japan Post “That does not mean it will happen, quake and tsunami. “I hope we can ran the largest postal savings system however, as the banks and private secure as high a price as possible,” in the world and reportedly had insurance firms are up in arms over he added. as much as 224 trillion JPY (2.1 trillion the matter.” The sell-off of the government’s USD) of household savings in its The private sector’s main worry is stake was decided long before the ‘yu-cho’ accounts and a further that the government’s continued Great East Japan Earthquake struck 126 trillion JPY (1.2 trillion USD) in minority stake would give Japan the north-east of the country. But its ‘kampo’ life insurance services. Post’s financial units a major com- the need to pay for the rebuilding The situation remains largely petitive advantage by permitting hundreds of communities in the unchanged today. it to enter new markets - such as spe- Tohoku region that were destroyed Re-organized in October 2007 cialist health insurance - and ensure in the natural disaster, the worst to into four business units - banking, that the firm could never go out of befall Japan in living memory, has insurance, mail delivery and over-the- business. However, there is an elec- added new urgency. counter-services for the three other tion on the horizon on December 16, Japan Post was founded on units - the Liberal Democratic Party which may affect plans to sell off the April 1, 2003, through the reorgani- (LDP) government set 2010 as the government stake. JR zation of the Postal Service Agency. date for its listing of the holding com- After being elected, the then Prime pany’s shares on the stock market. Julian Ryall is a freelance journalist, based Minister Junichiro Koizumi made pri- The LDP was defeated in the 2009 in Tokyo, Japan, who is also the Daily Tel- vatization of the company one of the general election, however, and the egraph’s Japan correspondent. key aims of his administration, new Democratic Party of Japan gov- although it was viewed by some as a ernment quickly froze the plan to controversial move. dispose of its shares. Market focus continues on page 30.

28 · Union Postale 4/2012 Feature

IBIS speeds up parcel inquiries

The use of the internet-based inquiry system (IBIS) for parcels became mandatory in January 2012. Some 148 Posts are using it and many are seeing benefits.

Before IBIS, Posts would submit CN 08 parcels inquiry form and speed made other Posts more reliable when By Kayla Redstone inquiries about missing parcels to up the inquiry process,” Christine it comes to responding to inquiries, each other using a paper form Bétrémieux, UPU parcels programme says Ruggero Schifano of Swiss (CN 08), which was sent as a letter manager, says. Post’s customer service department. or a fax. With the internet‑based sys- Posts say these rigid deadlines are If Posts receiving inquiries meet tem, they can submit inquiries online. helping improve customer service. a 95 per cent on-time response rate, Over 25,000 inquiries a month are The UK’s Parcelforce has been using they are eligible for a five-per-cent handled that way. The system also IBIS since 2006, when it was made bonus on inward land rates. Since imposes more strict deadlines for widely available, and is a top per- May, Posts receiving fewer than 500 finding missing parcels through former. Between February – July inquiries per year receive an alert three phases: the investigation 2012, the company scored 100 per email when a new inquiry arrives request, the special search and the cent for on-time performance, i.e. since missing even one inquiry could full investigation. dealing with an inquiry within the hinder their eligibility for the bonus. During the first phase, receiving maximum time-frame. “IBIS makes it Posts not using the IBIS system Posts have 12 working hours to check so much easier because you have have to rely on the goodwill of their track and trace data before they must proof that you have actually received partners to process inquiries submit- notify the dispatching Post whether [the parcel] rather than a paper trail ted via the traditional CN 08 and are the parcel was found. If the parcel that may go missing somewhere and not eligible for the bonus. Posts par- is not found, the receiving Post has a it’s much more efficient for the cus- ticipating in IBIS are no longer further 24 working hours to check tomer,” says Parcelforce’s interna- obliged to respond to CN 08 inquir- the distribution centre before send- tional customer service manager, ies. The UPU Parcels Programme is ing another response. Andrea Tye. encouraging all Posts to join the elec- If the parcel is still missing, the Swiss Post, another top performer tronic system. KR Post handling delivery to the final with a 100 per-cent rate of on-time destination has another 160 working response between February – July Kayla Redstone was an intern with the hours to perform a full investigation. 2012, saw an improvement in cus- UPU Communication Programme when “Making IBIS mandatory is the UPU’s tomer service after they switched to she wrote this article. way to phase out the paper-based IBIS in 2006. The deadlines have

Strict deadlines for finding missing parcels through three phases

Check track and trace data 12

Check distri­bution centre 24

Perform full investigation 160

hours Market focus Digest

Australia Switzerland Australia Post wants to invest more than It is also planning to launch a new parcel tracking Swiss Post has announced that 100,000 new 2 million AUD (2 million USD) to transform its na- system for its returns service in early 2013. The customers joined its banking services division, tional logistics network into a “world class” system will allow merchants to generate returns PostFinance, during the first nine months of parcel delivery network and “universal digital labels with tracking numbers. It has been given 2012. With assets that have grown to 103 billion platform”. These investments in the parcels seg- the green light by its regulator, Ofcom, to deliv- CHF, PostFinance now has 2.9 million customers ment will improve the automation levels and er parcels to neighbours when the addressees and manages 4.5 million accounts, 200,000 expand Australia Post’s presence throughout the are not at home to receive them. more than at the end of 2011. country, with more flexible delivery options for individuals and businesses, the operator said. Italy United States Poste Italiane will be the first company in Italy The US Postal Service plans to introduce a Belgium to introduce contactless payment systems for its same-day package delivery service within certain bpost has sold part of its Certipost service for customers, using near-field communication metropolitan areas of the US, considering the the exchange of electronic documents, particu- (NFC) technology. NFC systems use radio waves growth in the parcels segment in 2012. The new larly e-invoices, for 18.2 million EUR (24 million to transfer information, allowing retail customers ‘Metro Post’ service will allow online merchants USD). Certipost will continue to provide secure to use their mobile telephones to make pay- to offer rapid home delivery to customers in document and digital certification services as ments without having to provide a signature or certain cities. well as the Belgian electronic identity card. code. Other Canada Jersey FedEx has opened a new hub in Singapore air- Canada Post is introducing a new line of prod- Jersey Post is currently testing new ways to op- port, costing 78.9 million USD, to service the ucts for online retailers wishing to integrate Can- timize parcels deliveries. The Channel Island op- Asia-Pacific region. The hub is the only express ada Post data into their platform, online store or erator is trying out a number of options through transportation facility to house air, ground and customer application. With Canada Post Web Ser- its ‘Secure Drop’ service, which allows residents clearance operations under one roof. The com- vices, retailers can offer various pick-up options, to designate a location other than their residence pany is also expected to build a new internation- tracking abilities, shipping rates and return labels. for the delivery of unregistered parcels. al express and cargo hub in Shanghai at Pudong International Airport costing 100 million USD. Great Britain Netherlands The hub, which will be equipped with clearance Travel firm Minoan Group has signed an agree- PostNL has acquired Valid Express, a small com- facilities, is expected to be up and running in ment with the National Federation of Sub- pany that employs chronically ill and disabled early 2017. Postmasters to conduct a three-month trial of persons to provide same-day parcels delivery for TNT Express has continued its expansion in 50 automated travel agency kiosks in small retailers and online merchants. the Middle East by opening a new office in Qa- post offices located in market areas. If the pilot It has also issued the world’s first pop-up post- tar. The new branch, located in Abu Samra on proves successful, Minoan Group will install age stamps. The 3-D stamps, rolled out during the border with Saudi Arabia, is strategically po- around 1,000 kiosks over the next five years. children’s book week, are a world first, PostNL sitioned within TNT’s road network in the region. claims. The paper structure transforms the Royal Mail is offering its low-income custom- two-dimensional image into 3D by pulling out a ers, such as pensioners and those on unemploy- sliding tab. At five EUR per sheet, they can be All items by Jérôme Deutschmann ment and disability benefit, the opportunity to used to mail small packets weighing up to 500 g buy stamps at 2011 rates for the holiday season. within the Netherlands.

Erratum Union Postale, September issue, 2012, pg 8, first line – this should read: Younouss Djibrine, new secretary general of the Pan African Postal Union, knows the IPDP process intimately due to his time as chair of the UPU’s Council of Administration’s technical cooperation and postal reform project group.

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