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The Postal Service is reminding customers that metallic mercury and devices containing metallic mercury are always prohibited in the mail stream. This includes antique items such as thermometers, barometers, blood pressure monitors and similar devices.

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April 3, 2020

UPDATE 15: International Mail Service Disruptions Due to COVID-19

On April 3, 2020, the Postal Service received notifications from various postal operators regarding changes in international mail services due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

The following country has suspended certain mail services:

Maldives UPDATE: Maldives Post has advised that the Government of the Maldives has decided to extend the measures adopted as a precaution against the spread of the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Therefore, Maldives Post is suspending the processing of all inbound and outbound mail (letter-post, parcel post and EMS items) from March 19, 2020 to April 11, 2020. This will have a major impact on operations and, consequently, on quality of service for all types of mail. The disruption is expected to continue until the epidemic is over. Consequently, service delivery standards cannot be guaranteed, and a situation of force majeure has been declared.

Unless otherwise noted, service suspensions to a particular country do not affect delivery of military and diplomatic mail.

Until further notice, as a convenience for our customers, the Postal Service will continue to accept and process mail destined for the Maldives. This mail will be held within our network and will be delivered once mail service is restored.

The following countries have announced service disruptions:

Guatemala: The General Directorate of Posts and Telegraphs has advised that, as part of government measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, it is operating with 50% of its normal staff until April 12, 2020 (subject to extension). All post offices have been closed, and only home deliveries are being provided by the reduced staff, with appropriate steps taken to protect employees and customers. These measures will result in delays to deliveries, quality of service for all types of inbound and outbound mails is affected, and service delivery standards cannot be guaranteed. Therefore, the General Directorate of Posts and Telegraphs is declaring a situation of force majeure with regard to quality of service until the situation returns to normal.

Italy UPDATE: Poste Italiane has advised that the Italian Government has decided to extend the measures aimed at minimizing the spread of COVID-19 until April 13, 2020.

Mauritius UPDATE: Mauritius Post has advised that the Government of Mauritius has decided to extend the sanitary curfew for at least two more weeks, i.e. until April 15, 2020. All post offices nationwide are closed and all classes of mail will be subject to delays. All inquiries, including those handled electronically through the Internet-based systems for parcel-post, EMS and registered items, are liable to be disrupted. Also, call agents may not be able to deal with telephone inquiries. To eliminate customer interaction at the door and in accordance with physical distancing requirements, Mauritius Post has suspended the collection of a signature on delivery of registered postal items, until further notice. Owing to the suspension and cancellation of many flights to and from Mauritius, severe delays for all outbound and inbound mails (letter-post, parcel-post and EMS) are to be expected until sufficient transport capacity becomes available. Therefore, quality of service for all types of inbound and outbound mail is affected, and service delivery standards, which fall under the already invoked case of force majeure with regard to quality of service, cannot be guaranteed until the situation returns to normal.

South Korea: Korea Post has advised that, owing to the suspension of flights, the processing of outbound mail destined to: Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Hawaii (United States of America), Iceland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Qatar, Turkey, Uganda and Zambia has been suspended from April 3 2020 (April 2 in the case of Qatar) until further notice. The current situation will also have repercussions in terms of quality of service for all types of inbound and outbound mail. Korea Post can no longer guarantee quality of service standards. It is therefore declaring a situation of force majeure for all types of postal services in relation to the suspension of outbound mail to the above-mentioned destinations until the situation has returned to normal.

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