U.S. Postal Service: Competitive Concerns About Global Package Link Service

摘要

This report responds to your July 22, 1997, request that we review the U.S.Postal Service's (USPS) Global Package Link (GPL) service, an international parcel delivery service that the Postal Service started in 1995. This request was made is response to concerns by private express carriers that GPL parcels were subject to fewer customs clearance requirements and received preferential customs treatment overseas, giving USPS an unfair competitive advantage in providing international parcel delivery service. The primary objective of our review was to determine whether differences existed in the customs treatment for GPL and private express carrier parcels by foreign customs services in Canada, Japan, and the United Kingdom--the three countries where GPL service was primarily being provided in 1997.