Eleventh Additional Protocol to the constitution of the Universal Postal Union (UPU), the First, Second (recast and adopted by the 2012 Doha Congress) and Third Additional Protocol to the General Regulations of the UPU and the adoption of the revised Universal Postal Union Convention. - Extension to Jersey
Date: Thursday 3rd February 2022
Author: Daniel Houseago, Group Director, Economy
Summary
The major acts of Congress are the Universal Postal Convention, setting out the basic rules for governing the exchange of documents and parcels among post offices, and the Constitution and General Regulations, which establish and organize the Universal Postal Union (UPU) itself.
The Constitution is the basic Act of the Union. It contains the organic rules of the Union and is not subject to reservations and can only be changed by Congress, which is a quadrennial meeting of delegates from all UPU member countries and is the supreme decision-making body of the UPU.
The Constitution is binding on UPU member governments and must be ratified formally by each member state to confer that they agree with the Constitution and Additional Protocols and can comply with them. This is what the UK government are now looking to do. The Acts were updated during the last three Congresses – Istanbul Congress (2016) which was the ninth additional protocol to the acts, the Addis Ababa Congress (2018) that provided the tenth protocol and Abidjan Congress (2021) that provided the eleventh protocol, the third additional protocol to the General Regulations and adopted the of the Universal Postal Convention.
The Ninth and Tenth Additional Protocols to the Constitution of the Universal Postal Union Convention were extended to Jersey by Ministerial Decision on the 5th May 2021 (Decision Reference: MD-E-2021-0016).
There were a number changes made by the Istanbul, Addis Ababa and Abidjan Congresses, which are summarised below:
Ninth Additional Protocol - 2016 Istanbul Congress:
- Changes to add postal items and that the scope of these are regulated by the acts of the Union. Confirming this Additional Protocol shall come into operation on 1 January 2018 and shall remain in force for an indefinite period.
- Changes to the composition on the Consultative Committee to include high level postal figures and civil society organisations registered in a union member country.
- Changes in the timescales for submitting proposals and that documents will only be physically distributed on request.
Tenth Additional Protocol – 2018 Addis Ababa Congress:
- Clarification restricted Unions may send observers to Congresses, to the Council of Administration, to the Postal Operations Council, and to other conferences and meetings organized by the Union and that Members of the Postal Operations Council shall carry out their functions in the name and in the interests of the Union. Protocol shall come into operation on 1 July 2019 and shall remain in force for an indefinite period.
- Function of Congress to elect the member countries to sit on the Council of Administration and the Postal Operations Council, in accordance with, inter alia, the electoral procedures laid down in the Congress resolutions pertaining to this matter.
- The CA shall define, formalize and/or set up the standing groups and task forces or other bodies to be established within its structure, with due regard being paid to the Union’s strategy and business plan adopted by Congress.
- Allows the CA to create or abolishes International Bureau posts financed by the regular budget.
- Determination of the rules for the organisation of CA sessions, and that the Chairman and four Vice-Chairmen shall be member countries from each of the five geographical groups of the Union.
- The Council of Administration shall meet twice a year, or additionally on an exceptional basis, at Union headquarters, in accordance with the relevant procedures set forth in its Rules of Procedure.
- Changes to the structure of the POC from 40 to 48 members and re-election processes.
- Giving the POC authority to define, formalize and/or set up the standing groups, task forces, user-funded subsidiary bodies or other bodies to be established within its structure, with due regard being paid to the Union’s strategy and business plan adopted by Congress.
- Establishment of a Coordination Committee for the Permanent Bodies of the Union.
- Small changes to the contribution charges to union members, including a class of 0.1 units for least developed countries.
The relevant decisions for acceptance taken at the 2021 Universal Postal Union (UPU) Congress in Abidjan and which require extension to Jersey are:
Eleventh Additional Protocol – 2021 Abidjan Congress
The amendments to the UPU Constitution within the Eleventh Additional Protocol as summarised as follows:
- Ensures the variety of domestic legislative processes in place within the UPU member countries, including those equivalent to ratification, are acknowledged.
- Stipulates that member countries are to adopt the amendments to the UPU Constitution through ratification, approval, acceptance or accession to the amendments as soon as possible.
- The same requirement applies to the amendments to the General Regulations of the UPU and the Universal Postal Convention, the latter of which having become permanent in character and the amendments of which constitute the subject of additional protocols to be adopted by member countries in the future.
- ensure consistency of terminology and include a reference to the use of secure electronic means and their definition in the context of replies submitted by countries following a country’s application for accession to the UPU. The Eleventh Additional Protocol will enter into force on 1 July 2022.
The first and second additional protocols to the General Regulations (recast and adopted by the 2012 Doha Congress) – 2021 Abidjan Congress
- The first protocol (Istanbul 2016) focused on the make-up of the Consultative Committee, listing a number of organisations and high-level figures who could become members.
- It also addressed the issue of the publication of UPU documents and amendments to proposals submitted by member countries prior to, and during, UPU Congress sessions.
- In addition, it established that invoices should be sent to member countries by the International Bureau (UPU Secretariat) at least three months before the due date, along with information on overdue payment of particular invoices, which were also expected to be circulated to member countries electronically.
- The second protocol (Addis Ababa 2018) addressed the issue of standing groups, task forces and bodies established within the structures of the CA and POC, and clarified the criteria applying to the chairman and vice-chairman of the two bodies.
- It also specified that the CA and POC, the latter of which was to comprise of 48 members, were to meet twice a year unless extraordinary circumstances required additional meetings. The Protocol clarified the status of observers as chairs within standing groups and task forces, as well as the functions of coordination committees relevant to the permanent bodies of the Union. It also specified the duties of the Director-General, as the legal representative of the Union.
The third additional protocol to the General Regulations- 2021 Abidjan Congress
- The Third Additional Protocol to the General Regulations ensures the reservation of a seat for Pacific Island countries and territories in that regional group within the CA and POC.
- It also clarifies the criteria for membership of the Consultative Committee, which acts as the platform for external stakeholder engagement, as well as membership fees and application and acceptance processes.
- It addresses the timeline for the submission of proposals to the UPU Congress and sets the expenditure of the Union, including the regular budget ceiling figure for the 2022-2025 period.
- Furthermore, it makes provisions for a debt arrear schedule agreement which can lead to members’ release from automatic sanctions upon payment of their debt in line with the schedule.
- The Protocol also ensures that a modified UN scale of assessment is used as a reference level for members’ contributions, except for the least developed countries, which, together with Small Island and Developing States are subject to special provisions.
- It recommends that countries paying below the UN scale reference level increase their contribution by at least 2 units per cycle until they reach the recommended level. Those paying above the reference level have the option to reduce their contribution by a maximum of 2 units per Congress cycle as long as they do not fall below the recommended level
Adoption of the of the Universal Postal Convention - 2021 Abidjan Congress
- The Universal Postal Convention consists of provisions applying to letter post and parcel services in the UPU member countries.
- The Convention also sets out the obligations and privileges of UPU member countries as well as postal designated operators.
- In September 2019, the UPU reviewed the terminal dues system because of the growth in global, cross-border e-commerce, to ensure that all postal operators received fair remuneration for final delivery. It also addressed the issue of preferential treatment given to developing countries as the terminal dues (delivery) rates applying to that group of countries were historically lower than those of developed countries and this affected the fairness of international trade.
- The UPU member countries unanimously agreed on a proposal that ensured most countries (except for the smallest members with low volumes of mail flows) would pay the same remuneration rates for bulky letters and small packets from January 2020 with further rate increases phased in over a five-year period.
- The text of that agreement has substantially remained the same in the context of the Universal Postal Convention adopted in 2021, which is to formally replace the text agreed in 2019.
- The Convention has also become a permanent act of the Union which will be amended via Protocols in the future, following the same procedures applying to the Constitution and General Regulations of the UPU. The Universal Postal Convention will enter into force on 1 July 2022 (with the exception of the provisions in section VII, “Remuneration”, which will enter into force on 1 January 2022).
As the UK and the Crown Dependencies (CDs) and Overseas Territories (OTs) agreed to the amendments during the three Congresses, the effect of the Protocols is already in force. However, the UK Government is now taking the necessary steps to formally ratify the amendments within the Protocols. As part of the ratification process, the UK must ensure that Jersey, and the other CDs and OTs are aware of, and accept, the extension of the amendments as above.
Officers have consulted with Jersey Post as to whether they are content with the provisions outlined in these UPU Acts and amendments and whether they expect any issues with compliance as a result of the amendments. The CEO at Jersey Post has confirmed that they do not expect any issues with compliance as a result of the amendments.
The Attorney General has previously confirmed that the Island is compliant with the requirements of the UPU Additional Protocols and that extension of the Amendments may be formally requested by the Government of Jersey.
The action required is for the Minister (MEDTSC) to approve for the UPU Acts and amendments to be extended to the Island on the basis there are no issues with compliance, which is common practise when there are such changes to treaties to which the Island is signatory. Once approved External Relations can then confirm to the UK there should be no issues with compliance.
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