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You’ve Got Mail: Another Success Through U.S.-UN Partnership

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It’s been five years since the U.S. flirted with withdrawal from the Universal Postal Union (UPU) – one of the oldest agencies within the United Nations system. The threat to walk away came amid a flurry of politically motivated departures from UN agencies that included UNESCO, the UN Human Rights Council, the World Health Organization and the Paris Agreement. 

But it was the lesser known UPU that, in many ways, exemplifies just how far-reaching and imperative the UN’s work is – right here in the U.S. And it remains as relevant today as it was when it was founded in 1874.

More than a Postcard

In 2019, when discussions about U.S. participation in the UPU were unfolding, BWC President Peter Yeo weighed in on the debate, writing for The Hill that the “invisible work” of the UPU facilitates three of the very activities that keep American prosperous, democratic and safe: “business, ballots and battling opioids.” Yeo wrote that the UPU, “Give[s] U.S. businesses the predictability they need without the fear of a looming postal war. Let[s] Americans living overseas mail their ballots cheaply and with ease. [And let’s] Congress’ efforts to battle the illicit opioid market continue.”

Yeo is right. With its 192 member countries, UPU is the primary forum for cooperation among postal sector players, ensuring that mail makes it to even the most remote villages worldwide through a series of agreements that govern cost of, access to and safety of international shipping – and help intercept the wrong kind of mail before it reaches American communities.  

“Businesses, Ballots and Battling Opioids”

For businesses, the UPU is essential. Absent an international body, the U.S. would be forced to negotiate postal rates with 192 individual countries – a costly and cumbersome exercise. Just think of Etsy, the small business marketplace whose independent artists ship their products worldwide. Whether they’re using the federally-run USPS or private companies like FedEx and UPS, carriers require a reliable international infrastructure that ensures safe and consistent transit without the uncertainty of fluctuations in pricing or geographic reach. 

For American democracy, the UPU is an unlikely interlocutor. In fact, it was overseas voters – mostly members of the U.S. military – who arguably tipped the scales of public opinion when some lawmakers backed abandoning the agency. That’s because service members and civilians living abroad rely on absentee ballots. In arguing for U.S. engagement in the UPU, the nonpartisan U.S. Vote Foundation remarked, “It would be hard to come up with a better way of undermining the overseas vote faster.” Even state officials entered the fray. Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos issued a statement saying, “Leaving the Universal Postal Union could have disastrous consequences for American voters overseas. This includes our active duty military service members stationed abroad, who already face challenging barriers accessing their right to cast their ballots.” Fact is that without the UPU, many voters would be forced to use expensive private couriers, effectively creating a tax on voting. That kind of discriminatory barrier to democratic participation is both un-American – and unconstitutional. 

And for our nation’s efforts to stem the flow of illicit drugs, the UPU is a surprising ally. With 124,000 lbs of illegal narcotics seized by the USPS in 2020 alone, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service has worked with the UPU and foreign postal operators to clamp down on international shipping of synthetic drugs. They’re doing that through a system called “Advance Electronic Data” that was initiated by the U.S. through the UPU, requiring barcodes on international mail to include data about the package, like full names and addresses, weight, contents and more. This is a powerful example of effective interagency and international collaboration that brought together UN partners, the U.S. Postal Service, Customs and Border Patrol, the FBI and engagement with 192 Member States in the UPU. 

As Yeo remarked in the close of his piece, “In this case and in the case of many other global agreements, Americans benefit most when we remain engaged and work toward a mutually beneficial outcome.”

We couldn’t agree more.