WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONS/CSS/W/108
26 September 2001
(01-4638)
Council for Trade in Services
Special SessionOriginal:  Spanish
COMMUNICATION FROM MERCOSUR AND BOLIVIA
Postal Services
The following communication has been r eceived from the MERCOSUR delegations
(Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) and Bolivia, with the request that it be circulated to the
Members of the Council for Trade in Services.
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1. The States Parties to MERCOSUR (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) – through the
pro-tempore Presidency of Uruguay – and Boli via submit to the World Trade Organization the
proposal1 for a new classification for postal services (CPC 7511) and "courier " services (CPC 7512),
under subsectors 2.A and 2.B of Communications Servi ces in the Services Sectoral Classification List
(MTN.GNS/W/120), in accordance with the following.
I. INTRODUCTION
2. Historically, postal activities in all countries were organized in the form of direct or indirect
provision, by the State itself, of services to society under a generalized monopoly regime, which
constituted an obstacle to the operation of private companies in the market.
3. The production processes were fairly primitive, given the limited availability of technologies
applicable to operational processes, which did not benefit from technological elements for automating
the distribution of correspondence and postal items.
4. With the increase in international exchanges, private "courier" firms emerged, offering
international document transport services of higher quality, thereby causing the official postal services
to adopt a new strategy of market action.  With the passage of time, participation in international
alliances facilitated the expansion of "courier" firms serving national markets.
5. At the present time, as a result of economic liberalization and the deregulation of the sector
that has occurred in various countries, the official postal services and the "courier" enterprises
compete on equal terms in the postal market for services considered not exclusive to the public
operators responsible for Universal Postal Service provision.
                                                     
1 This proposal is not a legal text.  It is submitted solely for the purpose of negotiation and does not
prejudge the position of MERCOSUR or its States Parties, nor that of Bolivia, regarding the issues raised in it.
MERCOSUR and its States Parties and Bolivia reserve the right to modify this proposal during the negotiations.S/CSS/W/108
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II. POSTAL SERVICES IN THE CONTEXT OF THE GENERAL AGREEMENT ON
TRADE IN SERVICES
6. Postal and "courier" services are included in subsectors 2.A and 2.B of Communication
Services in the Services Sectoral Classification List (MTN.GNS/W/120), under the headings
CPC 7511 (Postal Services) and CPC 7512 (Courier Services).
7. The current classification of postal and "courier" services is inadequate, given the lack of any
difference in the way in which both postal service operators and "courier" firms provide postal
services.
8. In support of this argument, postal and "courier" service provision may be evaluated in
relation to the following aspects:
- The time taken to deliver the consignment to the addressee is a critical factor
requiring, on the part of the operator, efficient organization, discipline, the use of
appropriate means of transport, etc.  The postal and "courier" service operators
currently provide express services which are intrinsically sensitive to the variable oftime, although this does not affect their status as a postal service.
- The technology available enables both postal and "courier" service providers to
introduce updated processes of collection, classification, transport and delivery, as
well as to modernize their management of the information generated through postaltraffic, thus making it possible for them to offer services appropriate to the
requirements of specific segments of society.
- Both postal service and "courier" operators offer various facilities to users, such as
the following: practices and procedures to prevent delays and achieve the speedyrelease of consignments, possibility of accompanying the consignment from point of
origin to final delivery to the addressee, with availability of information on the
"status" and location of the item.
- The postal and "courier" services provide services with added value, such as
collection at the address indicated by the sender, delivery against signature by the
recipient, guaranteed delivery at a specific time and confirmation of delivery to theaddressee.
9. It is clear from the above that there is no difference (in nature) between postal services and
"courier" services, bearing in mind that the objective of both is "to deliver the consignment to a final,
certain and specific address".  Both partake of the same essential quality of "correspondence", whichdistinguishes the postal service from other services, inasmuch as it concerns interpersonal
communications connected with the applicability of the right laid down in Article 12 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations on
10 December 1948, which provides;  "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his
privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation.  Everyonehas the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks."
III. THE NEW REGULATORY FRAMEWORKS
10. From the regulatory standpoint, postal activity has been undergoing radical changes
throughout the world, the aim being to obtain a new institutional model which reflects the currentstate of development of the postal market.S/CSS/W/108
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Generally speaking, it can be stated that some strategies are common to various countries,
including the following in particular:
- Separation of the regulatory and operational functions:  in a market made up of
various operators, it becomes necessary for all operators to be covered by rules ofdiscipline, standardization, control, and arbitration.  A number of countries have
already set up bodies to regulate postal activity, while others are finalizing steps in
that direction.
- Universalization:  this concerns the physical and universal access of the population to
a basic set of services, thus constituting an important role to be played by States in
this new postal sector scen ario, on behalf of society.
- Competition:  governments are introducing competition in the sector through the
gradual reduction of monopolies, so as to prepare public operators for activity in a
totally deregulated market.
- Technology:  substantial sums are invested in the development of new services for
customers and in improving working conditions for employees in the sector, with
substantial gains in productivity.  One example is the gradual incorporation of
electronic commerce facilities, which provides major opportunities for growth in
postal activity, mainly in the parcel delivery segment, since electronic purchasesdepend on physical delivery for conclusion of the sales process.
11. It will thus be noted that the legal barriers which impeded the free exercise of trade in services
by "courier" firms have been or are being removed, and this will guarantee greater market
competition, with a greater supply of products and services to the population.
IV. UPU-WTO RELATIONS
12. Relations between the World Trade Organization and the Universal Postal Union are expected
to transcend mere rapprochement between two inte rnational organizations.  Both institutions base
themselves on the need to establish global international forums for the discussion of issues concerned
with specific activities, which, by their nature, transcend the borders of the various countries.
13. It is clear that both organizations have in common sectors requiring the establishment of
relations, an objective which was given its clearest expression at the UPU Universal Postal Congress
held in Beijing in 1999, which approved resolution C9 to promote cooperation between the UPU and
WTO for improved treatment of postal issues.
14. Finally, it should also be borne in mind that, by not developing into increasingly generalized
areas of market freedom and competition, postal activity will lose its key "public service" aspect.
Furthermore, given the clear danger that such liberalization will end by affecting services in
non-profitable areas, the same Beijing Congress gave thorough consideration to the idea of "Universal
Postal Service", as a special duty of States and of the international community for the purpose ofensuring physical and economically effective access for every individual to high quality postal
services.
V. PROPOSAL
15. From the analysis carried out, it will be seen that the current classification of postal services
and "courier" services is based on premises that are no longer valid, such as that of the single postal
operator not subject to market competition.S/CSS/W/108
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16. It has been shown that there is no justification for the existence of separate classifications for
postal services and "courier" services.
17. The conceptual definition which includes traditional postal services and "courier" services is
possible and necessary, and must be based on the concept of the inviolability of correspondence
recognized in Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Humans Rights.  The conceptual similarity
between these services does not prevent each of them from being distinguished by its different
specific modalities, namely agreed delivery times, value added to the service, follow-up technologies,
etc.
18. Thus, the States Parties to MERCOSUR and Bolivia proposed the integration of "courier"
services (CPC 7512) into postal services (CPC 7511), as set out in subsectors 2.A and 2.B of
Communication Services in the Services Sectoral  Classification List (MTN.GNS/W/120), under the
single heading of Postal Services.
19. With regard to relations between UPU and WTO, it is important to give priority, in all
international postal forums, to the relationship be tween the two organizations, given the need for the
UPU to experience the substantial progress being achieved by the WTO in respect of market
liberalization, free access to competition and equality of opportunities for transnational investors,
while the WTO for its part will benefit from the UPU's work and unrivalled competence in postal
matters.
20. Accordingly, we consider it important to promote discussion of topics common to both
organizations and to strengthen the machinery for coordination of activities, leading inter alia  to the
mutual recognition of observer status at relevant meetings.
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