Clause 3: Universal Postal Union (UPU)

(a) All the countries of the world with few exceptions are members of the Union known as the Universal Postal Union (UPU). The territories of the member-countries in the Union are regarded as constituting a single postal territory for the reciprocal exchange of letter post items. Freedom of transit is guaranteed throughout the territory of the Union.

(b) The Universal Postal Convention and its Detailed Regulations which are binding on all member-countries of the Union embody the rules applicable throughout the international postal service and the provisions concerning the letter post services. The parcel post service with the majority of countries or Administrations is governed by the Universal Postal Union Parcel Post Agreement (see clause 4) but the parcel service with non-signatories to this Agreement is governed by separate agreements with the countries or Administrations concerned (see clause 94). The exchange of insured letters is governed by the Universal Postal Convention but not all countries admit insured articles. Detailed information regarding admission of insured articles is given in the Appendix.

(c) Exchange of Money Orders, Postal Orders, and Cash on Delivery items are governed by special bilateral agreements.

(d) There are special arrangements with a few countries (Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal) under which more favorable conditions are laid down for the exchange of postal articles.