September 29, 2021

International Service Suspension Notice – effective October 1, 2021

The Postal Service™ will temporarily suspend international mail acceptance for certain destinations due to service impacts related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Effective October 1, 2021, the Postal Service will suspend international mail acceptance to

Australia until further notice due to unavailable transportation.

Customers are asked to refrain from mailing the following services to Australia until further notice:

• Airmail M-bags – effective 10/1
• International Priority Airmail (IPA) M-bags – effective 10/1
• International Surface Air Lift (ISAL) M-bags – effective 10/1
• Priority Mail International (PMI) – previously suspended 9/17
• First-Class Package International Service (FCPIS) – previously suspended 9/3
• Commercial ePacket (CeP) – previously suspended 9/3
• International Priority Airmail (IPA) Packets – previously suspended 9/3
• International Surface Air Lift (ISAL) Packets – previously suspended 9/3

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

For already deposited items (FCPIS, CeP, IPA Packets and ISAL Packets entered prior to 9/3/21, PMI entered prior to 9/17/21, and Airmail M-bags, IPA M-bags, and ISAL M-bags entered prior to 10/1/21), the Postal Service will transport to destination and delays are to be expected.For deposited items (FCPIS, CeP, IPA Packets and ISAL Packets entered on or after 9/3/21, PMI entered on or after 9/17/21, and Airmail M-bags, IPA M-bags, and ISAL M-bags entered on or after 10/1/21), the Postal Service will endorse the items as “Mail Service Suspended — Return to Sender” and place them in the mail stream for return to sender.

Due to COVID-19, international shipping has been suspended to many countries. According to DMM 604.9.2.3, customers are entitled to a full refund of their postage costs when service to the country of destination is suspended

The detailed procedures to obtain refunds for Retail Postage, eVS, PC Postage, and BMEU entered mail can be found through the following link: https://postalpro.usps.com/international-refunds

The Postal Service is closely monitoring the situation and will continue to update customers until the situation returns to normal. Please visit our International Service Alerts page for the most up to date information: https://about.usps.com/newsroom/service-alerts/international/?utm_source=residential&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=res_to_intl