#OPENUPU – New UPU CC member: German postal operator mail alliance

As of 1 July 2022, #postalstakeholders which are not #publicpostal #operators or #regulators can become #directmembers of the Universal Postal Union (#OPENUPU) and cooperate with other UPU members within the UPU #framework through its Consultative Committee (UPU #CC). We will continuously #report on new #members in this #series and comment accordingly.

Endorsed by #Germany, the mail alliance – eine Marke der mailworXs GmbH, a major #network of German postal #delivery operators, was accepted as a new UPU CC member on 15 July 2022. Over 55,000 delivery #personnel work as #part of the mail alliance, delivering #mail directly to letterboxes. The #product portfolio also includes boxable #ecommerce consignments (with and without tracking), currently up to 1 kg.

According to their own statements, mail alliance intends “to deepen existing #cooperation with designated postal #operators of UPU Member Countries, and to gain better access to #UPU products and services, directly required for the international exchange of postal items to and from Germany to the territory of designated #operators abroad,” with the aim of providing “new #deliverysolutions that meet and are compatible with the #global IT systems and #standards of the #postal world.”

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗣𝗨 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁?

The new UPU CC #member operates parallel to Deutsche Post AG in the fully liberalised German postal #market. The network realised that in order to generate additional #volumes from designated operators (#DOs), they needed to be directly involved at UPU level, using compatible #standards and #data formats and integrated into UPU #digitalinfrastructure, all of which minimises barriers to switching between postal operators in Germany. 

The current postal market environment is difficult, with decreasing volumes due to increasing UPU #tariffs, new mandatory #import and #customs requirements, increasing postal #customsclearance charges levied by the DOs in the #EU, and #safety and transport #security requirements. Consequently, the new option of accessing the EU’s largest ecommerce and postal delivery market via mail alliance has the potential to stimulate cross-border ecommerce and postal volumes.

For the UPU, this new member is proof that the UPU’s service proposition and, above all, its #unique global #digitalinfrastructure, including shared #standards and #uniform data formats, is recognised and valued by the wider postal #sector players.