Government proposes to adopt the Universal Postal Union Convention and to implement its provisions

On 2 June 2022, the Government submitted to Parliament a proposal for adoption of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) Convention and for acts bringing into force the provisions of a legislative nature in the Convention.

The 27th Universal Postal Union Congress convened on 9-27 August 2021. The Congress is the organisation's highest decision-making body, which meets every four years. At the Congress, negotiations were held on amendments to the UPU Constitution, Regulations and Convention. As a rule, the agreements will enter into force on 1 July 2022.

The matters discussed mainly concerned the operations of UPU and the designated operators of the member countries. In Finland, the designated operator for UPU is Posti Ltd. Some of the provisions in force remained unchanged, and only some articles were amended. Many of the amendments made are technical in nature. In addition, Finland proposed three new reservations to the agreement that were adopted at the 2021 Congress.

The amendments to the agreements are issued in the form of new conventions that replace the agreements earlier in force. The aim of the current Convention is to improve the international postal services and the cooperation between the operators in the sector.

The government proposal was circulated for comments from 27 April to 2 May 2022. A total of five comments were received suggesting technical corrections and specifications. They were used as a basis for modifying the proposal. In addition, following the comments on the reservation concerning Article 20 of the Convention, a written supplementary consultation round was held on 6 May 2022. Three responses were received. A separate statement on the proposal was also requested from the Government of Åland.

What next?

A referral debate on the government proposal submitted to Parliament will be conducted in a Parliament plenary session. Information on the date of the session will be available on the Parliament website. After the preliminary debate, the proposal will be referred to a committee. The committee will draft a report, which will then be discussed in a plenary session.

The new Convention is scheduled to internationally enter into force mainly on 1 July 2022. The legislative proposal contained in the government proposal is intended to enter into force at the same time as the Convention enters into force for Finland, on a date to be specified by government decree.

Inquiries:

Inka Näkkäläjärvi, Senior Specialist, tel. +358 50 475 2740, inka.nakkalajarvi(at)gov.fi

Sissi Kohtala, Senior Specialist, tel. +358 50 477 7893, sissi.kohtala(at)gov.fi