The European Committee for Standardization’s Technical Committee 331 „Postal Services“ has started a new work cycle to develop European standards or European standardisation deliverables, or where necessary to revise one of more than 40 existing standards. 

𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗨

The #standardization of #postalservices, the improvement of quality of service to support the Postal Service Directive 97/67/EC, as well as the Cross-Border Parcel Delivery Regulation EU 2018/644 are all a #strategicpriority of the Union and should be further pursued. #Technicalstandardization is indispensable to the promotion of interoperability between national networks, and to the existence of an #efficient #universalservice. The work programme considers the interests of users, environmental considerations, the accelerated pace of #digitalization, as well as #efficiency, and should contribute to #promoting the creation of a Digital Single Market for the Union and the Green Deal.

𝟭𝟬 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰𝘀

Experts nominated from European National Standardization Authorities have identified 10 new standardization topics, grouped into 6 categories:
I/Quality of services:
a) Review of existing standards related to electronic representation of postal addresses and delivery locations and align them with legal requirements
II/Interoperability:
b) Harmonization of Track & Trace events
c)  Use of technology for the tracking of postal items
III/Digital Postal Services:
d)    Review existing standards in the field of secure electronic postal services, postal e-documents, and postal registered electronic mail
IV/Digitalization in Postal Services:
e) Digitalization of postal transport documents
f) Digital identification of #postaloperators, and authorization to issue #transport IDs (traceable barcodes)
g) Review standards that deal with digitization of postal information on item level
V/Environmental aspects of #postaldelivery (in support of the EU Green Deal)
h) #Innovativesolutions to achieve effective and environmentally sound delivery
i) Definition of a methodology to calculate and report the environmental impact of end-to-end parcel transportation, from the collection to the final delivery, with the help of existing logistic environmental norms VI/COVID 19 & Pandemic
j) Contactless and recorded delivery of postal items

𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

Active participation in the task of harmonizing #technicalstandards offers an advantage for those engaged in the dual green and #digitaltransition. The role of national #standards authorities (e.g., DIN in Germany, AFNOR in France, and ASI in Austria) will grow further, giving all interested wider #stakeholders the opportunity to participate in the shaping tomorrow’s infrastructure, such as postal services.