While due to the health crisis, the 27th Congress cannot be held before August 2021, it was useful for the Postal Operations Council to meet to discuss issues that are important for the smooth continuation of postal operations from 2021 onwards.
These topics include customs early warning and the implementation of the global postal model, in the context of the coming into effect next year of the Stop Act and ICS2. The recommendations and proposals for regulations concerning these subjects were validated without difficulty and I am delighted about this. The POC also considered a draft multilateral data sharing agreement. Indeed, operators are exchanging more and more data and they have to comply with data protection regulations. As I pointed out during the discussion, the draft was not yet fully satisfactory. Deferring the decision to the April 2021 session will give us some time to make the necessary adjustments.
On the issue of terminal dues, the POC had to address a point of interpretation of the compromise adopted in Geneva concerning self-declared rates. As co-chair of the C2 (the committee responsible for these issues), I made sure that the concerns raised in particular by the United States did not call into question the balance of the compromise. I would like to thank the BI team and the C2 steering committee, all of whom have worked towards a conciliatory solution. The subject is now in the hands of the remuneration working group, which is due to return next April with a concerted proposal.
Regarding the Council of Administration, and governance issues, I note from the debate on the opening of the UPU, that it was clear that the report presented in the CA document was not supported. Many delegations highlighted the need to take into account universal service obligations and to ensure the situation of designated operators. They all called for further work, favoring a measured and cautious approach.
In the end, this essentially virtual session made it possible to mark the stages of all the UPU's major projects and set the roadmap up to the April 2021 session, which should conclude the Istanbul cycle and open up the prospects for the next cycle in a context strongly marked by the COVID pandemic19.
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