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Bioterrorism Act 2002;\
Docket No. 2002N-0278 (prior notice of imported food -- reopening of
comment period)\
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Dear Sir/Madam,

We have followed with interest the developments surrounding the
publication of the "Public Health and Bioterrorism Preparedness and
Response Act 2002". We are pleased to comply with your request for
comments on the Interim Final Rule stipulating the submission of prior
notice for the dispatch of foodstuffs to the USA.

We welcome the efforts by the USA to safeguard the entire manufacturing
and delivery chain for foodstuffs, and hence to lessen the possibility
of terrorist attack. It is in the interests of the whole world to take
every opportunity to block the activities of terrorist organizations,
and as a company with global operations, we are happy to provide the US
government with all the support we can possibly give to ensure the
highest possible level of security for US citizens.

Our group, Deutsche Post, is the national public postal operator in
Germany. We comply with all the rights and obligations contained in the
Universal Postal Convention. We fulfill the universal service obligation
stipulated by law and make our postal services available to everyone,
everywhere. The fulfillment of the obligations contained in the
Universal Postal Convention makes it possible for private customers in
particular to make use of postal services throughout Germany and at
acceptable prices.

The new requirements for the submission of prior notice for foodstuffs
to be dispatched to the USA have to be met by our customers also.
Unfortunately, we feel that the practical implementation of these
requirements will create substantial problems for us and for postal
operators around the world. The requirements of the prior notice
provisions, which are very complex, will be difficult to implement in an
environment where information has hitherto been communicated mainly in
paper form, and they can only be implemented within a very wide time
slot.

The greatest problem that we currently see in the implementation of the
new provisions is the target group affected by the regulations. All
senders, including small companies and private customers, are required
to submit advance information electronically. In practice, this cannot
be implemented within postal traffic.

Many of our private customers have no Internet access, and so are unable
to send prior notice electronically. Another problem is language; many
of our customers do not speak English, which means that they could only
submit a prior notice in German. However, this would require the whole
system, including the necessary operating instructions, to be available
in German, which is not the case at this time. The details required for
the prior notice are very complex, and our customers do not have some of
the information that has to be provided.

These obstacles will make it impossible for many private customers and
small companies to meet the requirements. On this basis, we would
suggest that the entire C2C segment should be exempt from the obligation
to submit a prior notice. Moreover, exceptions should also be granted to
small companies; for example, the requirement for a prior notice could
be waived up a to specified value threshold.

Our initial experience in using the system has shown us and our
customers that the entry of the data is very time-consuming and hence
costly. In particular, the time taken for a confirmation to be sent from
the FDA is not currently acceptable. As the confirmation number has to
be written on mail shipments before they can be dispatched, the current
slow response times constitute a considerable disadvantage for our
customers. Processes have to be completely reorganized to take account
of long waiting times before the goods can actually be dispatched. This
problem will intensify with Christmas mail, when a vastly increased
number of prior notices will arrive at the FDA.

This will place us at a substantial competitive disadvantage in postal
communications. Whereas non-postal shipments by air are subject to a
notice period of 4 hours before the arrival of the goods, for postal
communications the confirmation must be present much earlier. In the
view of Deutsche Post, this is unacceptable.

Our large customers are currently striving to meet the new requirements,
and use the system on a regular basis. One clear weakness is that every
shipment currently has to be notified individually. Even customers who
always dispatch the same products, where only the package size varies,
are forced to wait for confirmation from the system for each individual
shipment.

As stated at the beginning of this letter, we support the efforts of the
US government to safeguard the whole delivery chain for foodstuffs, but
only a fast and simple system for submitting the prior notices will help
to increase acceptance among our customers.

We would therefore suggest providing a simple system with limited data,
to enable the requirements of the FDA to be met without lengthy waiting
times. Business customers who always dispatch identical products should
have the option of entering several shipments at once and obtaining a
single confirmation number to cover these shipments. This would
substantially reduce the effort involved, without compromising security.
We must ensure that, even at peak times, confirmations can be generated
without delay.

Consideration should be given to exempting private customers from the
obligation completely, and simplifying the process for small companies.
Otherwise, these customers will in future be able to dispatch foodstuffs
to the USA only with severe restrictions.

We hope you will take note of our comments in the continuing elaboration
of these provisions. We will be happy to answer any queries you may
have.

Yours faithfully,

Reinhard Fischer Sandra Fischer\
Director\
Corporate Customs & External Trade

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