Sgt. Andrew Hunt, the postal noncomissioned officer in charge at Camp Casey assigned to the 19th Human Resouce Company, scans a package into the U.S. Postal Service digital system, Aug. 7, on Camp Casey. This is the first step of the nesting process where packages are received and tracked before they are shipped to their destinations. – U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Park Sung-ho

 

 

USPS: New online rules for overseas parcels

 

By Franklin Fisher

franklin.s.fisher2.civ@mail.mil

 

 

CAMP RED CLOUD – Postal customers wanting to send parcels from overseas military post offices starting this fall will no longer be allowed to submit handwritten customs forms and instead will have to do the forms online.

The change starts October 1 and applies to all customers using post offices on U.S. military installations in the Pacific and Europe, said Matthew J. Lewis, the Camp Casey postmaster.

In Korea, the change will affect about 43,000 military customers, including service members, Defense Department civilians, family members and contractors, according to Postal Management Division Korea.

The change comes as U.S. Customs and Border Protection looks to further tighten screening of items entering the United States, he said.

“USPS is being directed by Customs and the worldwide airline industry to make sure that this stuff is cleared before it gets on the plane – electronically,” said Lewis. “Everything has to be cleared before it gets to the airport.

“USPS and the Military Postal Service Agency worked this solution to the requirement to have all items going onto a plane pre-screened,” said Lewis. The Military Postal Service Agency is an extension of USPS and provides mail services to Defense Department personnel overseas.

Under the new system, once customers fill out the form online, the USPS computer system will sift the entries for “red flags,” Lewis said.

If for instance a customer lists among the contents such banned items as perfume or an aerosol spray can, the computer system will block shipment and the post office staff will not transport it to the airport. Instead, they’ll try to contact the customer so the banned item can be removed, he said. 

But if the parcel is cleared, the computer system will display a green check mark, which allows the post office to move it to the airport.

Besides use of the online forms, authorities will continue the existing practice of X-raying all cargo before putting it aboard a plane, Lewis said.

“All cargoes are X-rayed, not just the mail,” he said.