Learning from the UPU

One of the most interesting international bodies, which predated the United Nations and models international cooperation, is the Universal Postal Union (UPU). The UPU was formed in 1874 and essentially regulates the international postal system. The system is based on the universalist principle that people around the world, no matter which country they come from, should be able to communicate with anyone else – anywhere else in the world. And not only that, but people should be able to do this by buying a stamp in their own country for international postage, and their letter will be delivered to any postal address anywhere – regardless of the actual cost of delivery in the country of destination. And all countries are responsible for setting their own postage rates.

Obviously the cost of delivery of a stamp sent, say, to an address in London will be different from the cost of delivering a letter in Alaska or Siberia. So the international postage rate set in South Africa takes no account of the cost of delivery elsewhere in the world. And some countries may have more incoming international mail than outgoing – meaning that they could potentially suffer a financial loss by being part of the system. In the early days of the UPU it was assumed that the international postal system would balance itself in this regard.

In fact, postage use is closely related to economic development, and generally developing countries have more incoming mail than outgoing, and have tended to experience the financial burden. So since 1969, this aspect has been regulated through the terminal dues arrangement, whereby countries are compensated for imbalances in postage volumes.

Another aspect of the universalist aspect of the UPU is that it has never excluded any country for political or other reasons. South Africa, for example, was excluded from the UN, but never from the UPU. This meant that the International Defence and Aid Fund was able to use the postal system to send remittances into South Africa to provide financial support for prisoners’ families during the apartheid era – simply by connecting people through postal addresses.

Of course, the UPU deals with post, but also with parcels, postal orders, registered mail, customs clearance arrangements, international reply coupons, telegrams and much more – all of which require international cooperation and agreement amongst all the 191 members.

The UPU, then, effectively establishes what it calls a ‘universal postal territory’, which facilitates easy commercial, business and social exchanges between people and organisations around the world. (The internet also tries to do this, but excludes much of the world). As such the UPU is a fine and long-standing example of international cooperation based on reciprocity and mutual interest that we can learn from, as we move with hope into a new era.