IMEX Global Solutions

Advisory Alerts

May 14th - Due to a fire at the Moscow office of exchange no processing of mail and parcels for Russia is possible.
All export to Moscow will be suspended for 48h and no Track & Trace information can be exchanged.
We will keep the mail and parcels on hold in our warehouse, first departure is planned for Friday 17th May.
We apologize for this inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.
We keep you updated on the situation.
April 22nd - Deutsche Post DHL informs that the industrial action is still going on in selected areas of the Domestic Network of Deutsche Post DHL.
Furthermore the OE Frankfurt is affected by strike today. It is expected that this strike will take place today only. Following the contingency plan inbound vehicles (ground transportation) have been rerouted to alternative processing centers in order to maintain quality. Acceptance and receiving of inbound airmail and the remainders of inbound ground transportation is assured.
Please expect delays for letters and parcels by 1-2 days.
We keep you updated about the development.
Deutsche Post DHL informs all IPC members that currently collective negotiations between Deutsche Post and the union “Ver.di” are carried out for 132.000 employees.
Actual information 17 April 2013:
In the following regions and zip-code areas of Germany selective strikes lead to temporary walkouts in the delivery:
Berlin 10-12
Nordrhein-Westfalen 40-49, 50, 53, 57
Rheinland-Pfalz 54-56
Hessen 64-65
Saarland 66
Baden-Württemberg, 68-69, 72, 73, 75, 78, 88

Please expect delays for Letters and Parcels by 1-2 days.

Please note that OE in Frankfurt and Niederaula are currently not affected by these strike actions.
The USPS has received the following information from the Russian Post concerning backlogs of international mail at its Offices of Exchange:
The Russian Post opposes introduction of large-scale restrictions on the volume of incoming postal items from abroad. We report that the letter on the introduction of embargo sent by «Airport Moscow JV» to foreign postal administrations has not been agreed upon with the federal postal operator.
According to the Universal Postal Union Convention all postal items received from the UPU member countries designated operators have to be processed and cleared by the customs, within the international law of "freedom of customs transit". After all, after signing UPU Acts, the Russian Federation and not the Federal State Unitary Enterprise «Russian Post» assumed such a responsibility.
Despite close interaction between the Russian Post and the Federal Customs Service now the national postal operator is unable to increase the capacity of international mail exchange offices and process the increased postal traffic from abroad 24 hours a day due to the lack of customs inspectors at international mail exchange offices.
The customs clearance at international mail exchange offices is an integral step of processing parcels and small packets coming from abroad to Russian addressees. Due to heavy increase of mail volumes received from abroad the existing staff of customs inspectors is unable to make customs clearance in the full scale and in due time and the violation of customs procedures is not acceptable as it threatens economic interests and safety of the country. Extremely large volumes of postal items prepared for customs clearance and which are to be processed have been accumulated at international mail exchange offices.
As at 09.04.2013 there are 82,000 small packets prepared for customs clearance registered on 04.04.2013 and 9,700 parcels registered on 06.04.2013 accumulated in front of the line of customs control. Limitation on the number of postal items cleared by the customs doesn't make it possible to unload import mail arrived from the Moscow airport hubs and, as a result, leads to the situation when acceptance of incoming mail from airports terminals is limited.
At the same time Federal State Unitary Enterprise Russian Post repeatedly requested the Federal Customs Service to introduce 24 hour operation of customs authorities at Vnukovo international mail exchange office (at present international postal items are cleared by customs from 9.00 a.m. to 9 p.m.) for moving EMS items processing shop from international mail EO Moskva.
Forecasting the considerable growth of items volumes the Russian Post repeatedly sent official letters to the Federal Customs Service requesting to increase the staff of customs officers at the main logistic centers. Unfortunately, not all the requests were satisfied. In order to partially reduce the volume of incoming import mail from the Moscow airport hub the mail streams from China (with postal code sorting for Far East Federal district and Northern Federal district) to Novosibirsk were rerouted for further treatment at Novosibirsk EO beginning from March 27, 2013. Transport capabilities of such rerouting are restricted by the air carriers capabilities. We believe that constructive dialogue with representatives of customs authorities with the participation of the national authorities will promote fast resolving of the current situation.
We thank you for your patience and believe that situation will come into normal in a few days, all necessary measures are already taken in cooperation with Federal Customs Service.
We’ll keep you updated about current situation on a regular basis.
March 27th There was industrial action in the postal sector in South Africa but not all areas were affected. We were specifically informed by our contact at SAPO that the strike action was at three Gauteng facilities: Witspos (Johannesburg), Germiston (Johannesburg) & Tshwane (Pretoria). The latest information (dated March 26th) that SAPO have on their website is that the SA Post Office has significantly reduced the mail backlog and anticipates clearing the remainder of the backlog within a few working days.
Message n° 025/2013 22 March 2013 Further to EmIS 021/2013, the designated postal operator of the United Kingdom asks us to inform the designated operators of other Union member countries that disruption due to severe cold weather is continuing, and is now also affecting collections and deliveries across Northern Ireland (all postcode areas beginning with BT).
Royal Mail Group will keep designated operators informed of the situation, and thanks them for their understanding and cooperation.
Further to EmIS 02/2013, the designated operator of France (La Poste) asks us to inform the designated operators of other UPU member countries that normal services have resumed at Roissy CDG Airport following the disruptions caused by a strike of ground handling companies and a snow storm.
Effective March 13, USPS has temporarily suspended mail service to Syria due to transportation issues. Until further notice, all Post Office and other acceptance locations will not accept mail destined to Syria. The suspension affects Express Mail International, Priority Mail International, First-Class Mail International, First-Class Package International Service, International Priority Airmail (IPA) International Surface Air Lift (ISAL) and M-Bag shipments. Mail addressed to Syria will be returned to sender endorsed “Mail Service Temporarily Suspended — Return to Sender.” Upon request, postage and fees will be refunded, or mailers may opt to hold and later re-mail the package with existing postage when service to Syria resumes. When re-mailing, customers must strike the endorsement “Mail Service Temporarily Suspended — Return to Sender.” USPS advises customers to periodically check Mail Service Updates on usps.com for updates. For updates on service to Syria, click on “Syria.”
February 27 The designated operator of Spain asks us to advise designated operators of UPU member countries that several trade unions representing staff of the Iberia airline have called strikes from 4 to 8 March 2013. As well as affecting air traffic, this industrial action will directly affect processing and transmission of mails sent to and from the Madrid-Barajas exchange office, wherever Iberia is responsible for the flights or ground handling. Correos de España thanks designated operators for their understanding and cooperation.
February 25 The designated postal operator of St Lucia asks us to inform the designated operators of other Union member countries that inbound and outbound mail to and from St Lucia has been subject to delays since 21 February 2013. This is due to industrial action by public officials in St Lucia.


At IMEX Global Solutions (formerly Pitney Bowes International Services) we consolidate and distribute over 40 million pounds of parcel, print media and critical communications globally to 223 countries every year. This is accomplished through our four strategically placed consolidation centers using state of the art equipment and our exclusive relationships with private and public carriers. We process billions of pieces of mail every year which enables us to offer the most competitive rates with exceptional service.