international post recompensation

[Hombre]

Do countries get reimbersed for devilering foriegn mail?

If I were to send a package from the US to, say, Argentina I know I pay postage here but does the US compensate Argentina in any way for their part or do countries just consider delivering each others post a wash?

[Giles]

The international delivery of mail is done subject to agreements under the Universal Postal Union. Under those agreements, membvers of the UPU deliver mail originating in other members, but each member retain all the payments for international mail originating in the country – on the theory that mail flows in both directions, so things will generally even up. The Wikipedia article on the UPU says:

The UPU established that (1) there should be a more or less uniform flat rate to mail a letter anywhere in the world; (2) postal authorities should give equal treatment to foreign and domestic mail; and (3) each country should retain all monies it collected for international postage.

[rowrrbazzle]

Cecil’s 1990 column: Why does the U.S. deliver foreign mail when we don’t get any money for the stamps?

[TheLoadedDog]

@Giles

The international delivery of mail is done subject to agreements under the Universal Postal Union. Under those agreements, membvers of the UPU deliver mail originating in other members, but each member retain all the payments for international mail originating in the country – on the theory that mail flows in both directions, so things will generally even up. The Wikipedia article on the UPU says:

The UPU established that (1) there should be a more or less uniform flat rate to mail a letter anywhere in the world; (2) postal authorities should give equal treatment to foreign and domestic mail; and (3) each country should retain all monies it collected for international postage.

(Bolding mine)
POSTAL WORKER CHECKING IN: I can assure you that the equal treatment of foreign mails is abused routinely, and the problem is even worse in these days of corporatisation where many postal administrations are required to operate to a private business model, even if still government-owned, because not only is, for example, the USPS competing with other carriers, but there is also internal competition as regional managers try to get the best figures for on time delivery of mail, so mail gets the following unofficial treatment:
**1.**What is called ‘own-to-own’ mail.
This is local mail, posted and delivered in the same city (or part of a city). You are the manager of a letter sorting plant. Your plant is the only one that this mail visits, so if it’s late, you get blamed.
**2.**Originating mail.
This is mail posted in your area, being despatched to other parts of the country. You don’t want to give other managers a chance to whine that you delivered to them late. If it is late, you might get blamed, or the other guy might.
**3.**Terminating mail.
Mail coming in to your plant from other cities.
Blame the other city if it’s late, but the postal administration generally still looks bad.
**4.**Ex-overseas mail.
This is treated like dirt. If a customer complains, you just blame Buttfuckistan Post.

You can see this in action by walking into a sorting plant at random times of day. Go in there in the evening or at night, and they’re doing the important stuff - the mail that’s just come in from the post offices at the end of business for the day, and is promised to a schedule, so it has to be at the airport that night for overnight flights to other cities. Go there in the morning at about 8am, and they’re sorting mail from overseas. It’s too late to be delivered anywhere that day, so they’ve already dropped a day. When that day’s round of domestic mail starts coming in in the afternoon, the ex-overseas will be shoved aside again. This stuff can sit there for days sometimes.