March 25, 2020

UPDATE 8: International Mail Service Disruptions Due to COVID-19

On March 25, 2020, the Department of Defense notified the Postal Service™ that effective March 25, 2020 through April 15, 2020 military mail will be temporarily suspend to the following ZIP codes, due to the loss of transportation to/from Norway:

Additionally, the Postal Service received notifications from various postal operators regarding changes in international mail services due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

The following countries have suspended certain mail services:

Cayman Islands UPDATE: the Cayman Islands Postal Service has advised that it is now required to suspend all postal operations, owing to measures taken to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. From March 25, 2020 to April 6, 2020, the Cayman Islands Postal Service is closing all operations to comply with a government direction that all but essential workers remain at home during this period.

Chad: Société Tchadienne des Postes et de l'Epargne (STPE) has advised that the government of Chad has decided to close its land borders and suspend all flights, except for cargo, from March 19, 2020 until further notice. Consequently, STPE is no longer able to send postal items to other designated operators or receive postal items from them.

Madagascar: Paositra Malagasy has advised that the Government of Madagascar has declared a state of sanitary emergency for a period of 15 days, with effect from March 21, 2020. These measures are having a severe impact on postal operations. Until further notice, post offices will be operating a minimum service and the delivery of mail (letter-post, parcel-post and EMS items) is suspended. Consequently, Paositra Malagasy is no longer able to guarantee quality of service for all categories of inbound and outbound mail (letter-post, parcel-post and EMS items).

Samoa: Samoa Post has advised that the Government of Samoa has declared a state of emergency, with effect from Saturday, March 21, 2020. Samoa has therefore closed its borders and suspended all flights in and out of the country. Samoa Post will be closed from Thursday, March 26, 2020 until further notice; no inbound or outbound mail will be processed during this period.

South Africa: South African Post Office Ltd., has advised that the government has taken a number of steps aimed at reducing social contacts and physical movements to a minimum. In addition, because of the suspension of many flights, exchanges of both inbound and outbound mails are currently blocked. All post offices nationwide will be closed while the country is on lockdown, and all mail classes will be delayed. South African Post Office therefore requests that delivery standards be suspended in this force majeure situation. At present, normal services are due to resume as of April 17, 2020.

As a convenience for our customers, the Postal Service will continue to accept and process mail destined for the aforementioned countries. This mail will be held within our network and will be delivered once mail service is restored.

The following countries have announced service disruptions:

France UPDATE: La Poste has advised that all its offices of exchange (international processing centers) will be subject to an exceptional closure, as follows:

• On Wednesday, March 25, 2020;

• From Saturday, March 28, to Monday, March 30, 2020.

The delivery of EMS items will be maintained, but may be subject to delays.

Indonesia: Pos Indonesia has advised that operations, for all outbound and inbound mail (letter post, parcel post and EMS) are being disrupted. Delivery standards cannot be guaranteed; addressee signature on delivery of inbound items has been suspended, and a situation of force majeure has been declared from March 23, 2020 until the situation returns to normal. Pos Indonesia remains committed to keeping its services running as far as the steps being taken in the national interest to protect citizens allow.

United Arab Emirates Emirates Post has advised that a state of alert has been declared, at least until April 2, 2020. Emirates Post is required to take strict ad hoc measures aimed at minimizing human contact, during both sorting and delivery. These are likely to have an impact on operations and, consequently, on quality of service for all types of inbound and outbound mail (letter-post, parcel-post and EMS). For this reason, service delivery standards cannot currently be guaranteed. While airports remain open, passenger flights to and from the UAE have been suspended. The delivery of international mail will be subject to potential delays until the situation returns to normal. As a result, Emirates Post is unable to offer various services at the moment. The provisions set out above will remain in effect until further notice.

These service disruptions affect Priority Mail Express International^® (PMEI), Priority Mail International^® (PMI), First-Class Mail International^® (FCMI), First-Class Package International Service^® (FCPIS^®), International Priority Airmail^® (IPA^®), International Surface Air Lift^® (ISAL^®), and M-Bag^® items.

The DMM Advisory will continue to update mailers regarding new service disruptions as they are received. For a full list of international service disruptions, please visit https://about.usps.com/newsroom/service-alerts/international/welcome.htm