Russia's postal blockade has gone international: the Universal Postal Union removed the aggressor country from the chairmanship of the Customs Commission ahead of schedule

13.05.2022

On May 12, 2022, the Universal Postal Union adopted a resolution on the removal of the Russian Federation from the co-chairmanship of the Commission "Customs". The decision became possible thanks to the active work of the Ukrainian embassy in Switzerland. This decision was argued that "the military actions of the Russian Federation in Ukraine have complicated the provision of the above-mentioned postal services and put at risk the lives of postal personnel in Ukraine, which is contrary to the objectives of the Union to ensure the organization and improvement of postal services and to promote international cooperation in this area". The full text of the resolution can be found here.

The Postal Operations Council adopted the decision by a majority vote: 51 percent in favor of removing Russia, 36 percent of the UPU member countries abstained, and 13 percent opposed the removal of Russia as co-chair of the Customs Commission. Initiators of Russia's early removal were Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and Slovakia. Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

In addition, as noted in the resolution, "a number of member countries of the Union expressed serious concerns about the current ability of the Russian Federation to achieve consensus results among the broadest circles of the Union and, therefore, its ability to continue to co-chair the "Customs" Commission. The document also noted that "in light of the actions of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, many member countries of the Union indicated that they would not be able to interact with the Russian Federation as co-chair of the aforementioned permanent commission. Thus, the Universal Postal Union formed a coalition of countries in support of Ukraine and against Russia.

Please be noted that as part of the 2021 UPU Congress, the chairmanship of the Customs Commission went to Great Britain and Russia. The chairmanship of the commission has a term of four years. The commission defines customs policies for the Posts of member countries of the Universal Postal Union, which in turn affects the speed of delivery and simplified treatment for all international postal items (imports and exports). According to the Posts of the world, the aggressor country, whose military actions in Ukraine have complicated the provision of postal services, can not make decisions that affect the cooperation of countries.

Earlier it was reported that the Posts of the world initiate a postal blockade of Russia.