Received a PM from a long-time, generous donor (SOR Member) that his most recent letter was returned with a note that it required a customs form. Not surprisingly, he noted that having to fill out such paperwork for a regular envelope with a handful of stamps would be a barrier to future donations. At the same time, when I wanted to personally buy from an SOR member recently, he noted the same issue had lead him to previously stop selling to Canadian members.

I totally sympathize with these frustrations, but fear that this could be the tip of the iceberg leading to the demise of The Holocaust Stamps Project (Canada), as well as our personal trading and buying activities cross-border.

We've been around the block on the issue here with a range of opinions, but with people eventually just deciding to interpret the rules as inviolable or flexible and going their own way. Personally, I'm still in the grey area on this so decided to go through the USPS and Canada Post sites to get a better idea on the issue. Frustrating beyond belief and nobody could provide a simple answer to what I think is a simple question.

So I asked my old poker buddy (now retired from Canada Post) and my former assistant's husband (who works for Canada Border Security) what they thought. Their answers (backed up by what I read on the two government sites) seemed fairly clear. On the example of an SOR member sending me (personally) stamps I have purchased - or sending stamp donations to "The Project", in summary:

1) Customs forms are not required for mail coming from the USA, per se, they are required for mail coming into Canada. So the requirement for a customs form is the purview of Canadian Authorities.

2) As per Rule #2.2.2 (Canada Post) if the items are valued at less than $20 there is no duty or tax assessed (exceptions: alcohol, tobacco, and limited other things - but postage stamps are not included in this group).

3) If the sale or donation complies with the above, a customs form is not required, however, a card or note should be included in the letter noting that, in case it is opened by customs officials.

4) In particular, there should be no issue if (a) the stamps are sent in a "regular" envelope the same as used for a letter; (b) the letter weighs less than 1 ounce/30 grams; (c) the proper stamp is affixed (I think the US has a Global Forever type stamp?); (d) there is no special notation on the letter as to contents (e.g. "Donation" or "Contains Stamps - Please Don't Fold"); (e) the return address label notes a personal name and address, not a business one.

Both of my contacts agreed that basically postal/customs people have no interest in "stamp collector friends" trading (including buying/selling) small amounts of stamps between themselves. They are however, concerned with finding businesses (especially) and individuals who are sending valuable stamps cross-border for the purposes of making profits while avoiding paying proper duties/excise taxes to the governments of the receiving countries (in my example - that would be Canada - not the USA).

So I think there is room for us to still exist and continue to operate (as friends/stamp collectors - not high-profit business entities) even with our wall-less borders.

Anyway, there is my 2c worth.

David.

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re: More Questions & Concerns on Mailing From USA to Canada

Thank you Linus ....

David - regardless of how your poker buddy or previous assistants husband want to interpret international postal law your donor's gift was returned because it violated the law - there is no gray area. It is not a US law - it is international law and it will eventually affect all countries. Here is another excerpt from a postal bulletin dating back to 2017 - the terms "correspondence" and "documents" are defined in several places in both international and us rules and regulations and there is no possible way that stamps are either.

"IMM Revision: Changes to Pricing and Products for International Mailing Services

Effective January 21, 2018, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual (IMM®) to reflect changes to prices, product features, and standards for the international mailing services noted below.

The following pricing and IMM revisions are based on the Postal Regulatory Commission’s (PRC) Order No. 4215, issued on November 9, 2017, in Docket No. R2018-1. In that order, the PRC determined that the First-Class Mail® (including First-Class Mail International®), USPS Marketing Mail®, Periodicals, Package Services, and Special Services Products pricing proposals, as well as the related classification changes in the Postal Service’s request, will go into effect on January 21, 2018.

First-Class Mail International Service

We will not increase prices for single-piece First-Class Mail International letters, postcards, and flats. The price of a single-piece 1-ounce letter will continue to be $1.15. The First-Class Mail International letter nonmachinable surcharge remains $0.21.

In this price change, conforming to the requirements of the Universal Postal Convention, we are limiting the contents of First-Class Mail International postcard, letter, and large envelope (flats) mail to personal correspondence and nondutiable documents. Merchandise that was formerly carried in First-Class Mail International service will instead be eligible to be enclosed in First-Class Package International Service® (FCPIS®) pieces or another available service. Because International Priority Airmail® (IPA®) service (including IPA M-bags®) and International Surface Airlift® (ISAL®) service (including ISAL M-bags) are commercial services designed for volume mailings of all First-Class Mail International postcards, letters, large envelopes (flats) and for FCPIS packages (small packets), limiting the contents of First-Class Mail International postcard, letter, and large envelope (flats) mail as discussed above will also apply to postcards, letters, and large envelope (flats) mail for both IPA and ISAL services. (See “IMM Revision: Changes to Pricing and Mailing Standards for International Shipping Services” in this issue of the Postal Bulletin.)

 
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re: More Questions & Concerns on Mailing From USA to Canada

I'm amazed that every time someone gets their international stamp shipment returned for a customs form and proper mailing method that they are flabbergasted and don't understand. This is nothing new. This has been discussed on various sites, including this one, for years.

 
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re: More Questions & Concerns on Mailing From USA to Canada

High postage rates on Ebay may have nothing to do with the seller. If they participate in Ebay Global Shipping Ebay takes care of everything once the seller ships it to their processor. They set the shipping fees which include repackaging what the seller sends them, taking care of customs, etc. The seller is not even aware of what the customer is charged. Many nightmarish stories surround that shipping program - none of which are under the sellers control.

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lemaven

02 Oct 2020
02:55:33pm

re: More Questions & Concerns on Mailing From USA to Canada

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lemaven

02 Oct 2020
03:38:34pm

re: More Questions & Concerns on Mailing From USA to Canada

Carol, it's not that I don't believe the expert opinions here...yet somehow, I can't help but wonder... I guess that's why conspiracy theorists continue to exist (not that I would lump myself in with them).

Anyway, I emailed a lawyer who deals with cross-border investment and tax issues who hopefully can confirm for me that "no postal aliens exist" once and for all and I can go back to my afternoon naps in stead of riling up my beloved SOR colleagues!

Have a safe weekend, Dave.

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re: More Questions & Concerns on Mailing From USA to Canada

Taken from USPS:-

Regardless of any statement in this manual or the statement of any employee of the United States Postal Service, the burden rests with the mailer to ensure compliance with domestic, international, and individual country rules and regulations for mailability.

Again from USPs Website

123.633 Customs Forms Required

The following are examples of items that are required to bear a customs declaration form and for which the mailer must declare a value:

CDs, DVDs, flash drives, video and cassette tapes, and other digital and electronic storage media — regardless of whether they are blank or contain electronic documents or other prerecorded media.
Artwork.
Collector or antique document items.
Books.
Periodicals.
Printed music.
Printed educational or test material.
Player piano rolls.
Commercial engineering drawings.
Commercial blueprints.
Film.
Negatives.
X-rays.
Separation negatives.
Commercial photographs.

123.64 Additional Security Controls

When the chief postal inspector determines that a unique, credible threat exists, the Postal Service may require that a mailer, at the time of mailing, provide an acceptable primary form of photo identification (see DMM 608.10.3). The signature on the identification must match the signature on the customs declaration form.
123.7 Completing Customs Forms
123.71 PS Form 2976, Customs Declaration CN 22 — Sender’s Declaration
123.711 Sender’s Preparation of PS Form 2976

An image of PS Form 2976, Customs Declaration CN 22 — Sender’s Declaration, is available at about.usps.com/forms/ps2976.pdf. Before mailing, the sender must fulfill any nonpostal export requirements described in chapter 5 and must ensure that the electronically generated PS Form 2976 is complete.
123.712 Postal Service Employee’s Acceptance of PS Form 2976

The Postal Service acceptance employee must do the following when accepting PS Form 2976 from the sender:

Instruct the sender how to complete, legibly and accurately, PS Form 2976, as required. The sender’s failure to complete the form properly can delay delivery of the item or inconvenience the sender and addressee. Moreover, a false, misleading, or incomplete declaration can result in the seizure or return of the item and/or in criminal or civil penalties. The Postal Service assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of information that the sender enters on PS Form 2976

It would appear that sellers and buyers will have to be more judicious!!

 
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ccndd

02 Oct 2020
10:25:07pm

re: More Questions & Concerns on Mailing From USA to Canada

eBays cut includes the shipping charges.

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