This week’s bulletin contains the latest information about Canada, Denmark, El Salvador, Lao People’s Dem. Rep., Malta, the Russian Federation, Spain, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
Canada
Start date: 28 September 2022
End date: 4 October 2022
Incident: hurricane Fiona in Atlantic Canada – back to normal
Further to Incident Bulletin 07.10.2022, the designated operator of Canada, Canada Post, has informed that operations resumed in the areas that were affected by Hurricane Fiona and that postal operations in the country returned to normal with effect from 4 October 2022.
Denmark
Start date: 28 March 2022
End date: 4 October 2022
Incident: resumption of mail services to and from Belarus and the Russian Federation
Further to incident bulletins 01.04.2022 and 27.05.2022, the designated operator of Denmark, PostNord Danmark, wishes to inform that mail services to and from Belarus and the Russian Federation have resumed in full.
Therefore, with effect from 4 October 2022, PostNord Danmark will forward and accept all mail items (letter-post, parcel-post and EMS items) to and from Belarus and the Russian Federation.
El Salvador
Start date: 11 October 2022
End date: ongoing
Incident: heavy rainfall
The designated operator of El Salvador, Correos de El Salvador, wishes to inform that the heavy rainfall caused by Storm Julia throughout the country has affected the road network. This situation is disrupting operations at the level of acceptance, processing, distribution and dispatch of international mail, resulting in delays all along the value chain.
Lao People’s Dem. Rep.
Start date: March 2020
End date: 1 August 2022
Incident: special measures implemented to limit the spread of COVID-19 – back to normal
Further to previous incident bulletins on the subject, the designated operator of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the Entreprise des Postes Lao, wishes to inform that the special measures implemented to limit the spread of COVID-19 have been lifted.
As a result, the processing of all international outbound and inbound letter-post, parcel-post and EMS items has resumed as normal with effect from 1 August 2022.
Malta
Start date: 13 January 2022
End date: 1 October 2022
Incident: lifting of state of emergency with regard to COVID-19
Further to Incident Bulletin 14.01.2022, the designated operator of Malta, MaltaPost, wishes to inform that the state of emergency with regard to COVID-19 has been lifted. As a result, the processing of inbound and outbound letter-post, parcel-post and EMS items has returned to normal with effect from 1 October 2022.
Russian Federation
Start date: 17 February 2022
End date: 3 October 2022
Incident: changes to customs procedures – back to normal
Further to previous communication on the subject, the designated operator of the Russian Federation, Russian Post, wishes to inform that the situation at Russian airports, including Sheremetyevo International Airport, has been stabilized. Consequently, there are no longer any additional requirements in place for air carriers.
Spain
Start date: 23 March 2020
End date: ongoing
Incident: COVID-19 – update on the opening of mail routes and the state of emergency
Further to Incident Bulletin 18.06.2021, the designated operator of Spain, S.E. Correos y Telégrafos, wishes to inform that, in accordance with the decisions taken regarding public health measures (discontinuation of sanitary controls on arrival in Spain), and given the improvements in terms of transport capacity, its operations have almost completely returned to normal.
Therefore, letter-post and parcel-post flows to most UPU member countries and territories are being processed without restrictions, and normal operations resumed on 3 October 2022. Correos wishes to emphasize, however, that delays may continue to be experienced for certain items to destinations still affected by limited air transport capacity or transit availability.
Thailand
Start date: 13 September 2022
End date: ongoing
Incident: disruptions due to flooding – update
Further to Incident Bulletin 16.09.2022, the designated operator of Thailand, Thailand Post, wishes to inform that it has now closed its force majeure case relating to the flash floods which started on 12 September 2022.
However, it has opened a new force majeure case because of flooding caused by Tropical Storm Noru, which hit Thailand on 30 September 2022 and is now leading to blockages in the road network. There are delays in transporting and delivering mails to addressees, and customers are facing difficulties accessing postal services at post offices in some areas within the following postcode ranges:
10XXX, 11XXX, 12XXX, 13XXX, 15XXX, 16XXX, 24XXX, 25XXX, 26XXX, 30XXX, 31XXX, 32XXX, 33XXX, 34XXX, 35XXX, 36XXX, 40XXX, 42XXX, 44XXX, 45XXX, 60XXX, 65XXX, 72XXX and 73XXX
Postcode areas 50XXX and 67XXX have also been added to this list with effect from 3 October 2022.
Postcode areas 14XXX, 17XXX, 18XXX, 41XXX, 61XXX, 62XXX, 63XXX, 64XXX and 66XXX have been added to this list with effect from 4 October 2022.
United Kingdom
Start date: August 2022
End date: ongoing
Incident: update on strikes
Further to previous communication on the subject, the designated operator of the United Kingdom, Royal Mail, wishes to provide with updated information concerning the one-day postal strikes. In October 2022, the strikes will affect postal deliveries on the following dates:
- 24 hours from 4.00 on Thursday, 13 October into Friday, 14 October
- 24 hours from 4.00 on Thursday, 20 October into Friday, 21 October
- 24 hours from 4.00 on Tuesday, 25 October into Wednesday, 26 October
The following contingency plans are in place:
- All mails for the UK should continue to be sent as normal. For inbound air services, the London Air Mail Unit will be operational and will continue to accept and process all inbound arrivals. For inbound road services, the International Logistics Centre (ILC), the Heathrow Worldwide Distribution Centre (HWDC) and Parcelforce Worldwide’s Coventry International Hub will all remain open and be fully operational.
- Each of these sites will continue to carry out customs clearance and processing activities as usual. The UK delivery operation will be affected on days when strike action is taking place. Despite the contingency plans, it will not be possible to replace the daily efforts of the entire frontline workforce. Royal Mail will do what it can to keep services running, but there will be significant disruption on the days of the strikes.
- All Union member countries and designated operators should therefore expect to see some delays in items sent for delivery in the UK.
- As regards exports from the UK, all Union member countries and designated operators will continue to receive export mails from Royal Mail Group, including Parcelforce, as usual. Export volumes may temporarily be lower, but arrivals will continue as normal.
Please visit www.royalmail.com/latest-news for up-to-date, detailed information on services.
United States of America
Start date: 12 October 2022
End date: ongoing
Incident: hurricane Ian
The designated operator of the United States of America, the United States Postal Service (USPS), wishes to inform that, owing to Hurricane Ian’s devastating landfall in southwest Florida, operations have been disrupted in some areas. Exceptional efforts are under way to deliver mail to affected areas. The top priority of USPS remains the safety of its customers and employees.
The full scope of storm impacts in terms of delivery and locations is still being assessed. This process is expected to continue for some time. USPS is working with local authorities for safe and timely processing and delivery of mail products where possible.
For now, some US customers, both commercial and residential, may require different methods of mail receipt, including alternative pick-up locations. Additionally, mail to some addressees may be undeliverable at this time.
