April 2, 2014

Revised Publication 52, Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Mail

The Postal Service™ has revised Publication 52, Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Mail, our manual on mailing and shipping policies covering potentially hazardous, restricted or perishable items.

Among other changes, the revisions include new marking requirements for shipping hazardous materials by air and ground.

Other modifications include:

• Updated postal contact information.
• Mail classes available when sending hazardous, restricted and perishable items.
• An alignment of radioactive mailing standards with those provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
• Container, tray and mailpiece visibility.
• An alignment with Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM^®) 601 on shipments of firearms.
• A restructuring of Chapter 4 and the addition of standards for cigarettes and smokeless tobacco.
• Clarification of USPS^® policy on mailpieces refused by commercial air carriers.

Publication 52 is changing as it incorporates DMM standards on hazardous, restricted or perishable material, providing a simpler reference for employees and customers. In the coming months, more updates will be available.

The publication is available on Postal Explorer or pe.usps.com.