USPS Suspends Package Services to Russia Over War in Ukraine
USPS has suspended international mail services to Russia due to unavailable transportation to the area resulting from sanctions imposed by the US, UK, EU, and many others on Russia, effective March 11, 2022.
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Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine has resulted in new sanctions and restrictions being imposed on an almost daily basis. This has made finding commercial transportation services most mail operators use to serve Russia virtually impossible.
The US Postal Service constantly monitors mail services globally and evaluates parcel volume as well as transport capacity to adjust its service standards and availability. As a result, USPS had to finally follow suit with other carriers that had stopped serving Russia earlier in the month.
The following mail services to Russia are suspended now until further notice:
- Global Express Guaranteed (GXG)
- Priority Mail Express International (PMEI)
- Priority Mail International (PMI)
- First-Class Mail International (FCMI)
- First-Class Package International Service (FCPIS)
- International Priority Airmail (IPA) Packets
- International Surface Air Lift (ISAL) Packets
- Airmail M-bags
While not included in its notice (see link below), USPS has previously suspended acceptance of Global Express Guaranteed (GXG) mail to Russia. At the moment, the only mail that it will accept is diplomatic mail.
The Postal Service advises that International Service Center (ISC) employees will endorse the items as “Mail Service Suspended —Return to Sender” and then place them in the mail stream for return.
In addition, US Postal Service retail locations will not accept affected mail services. If shippers deposit packages in a mailbox, drop off packages at retail locations that have collection areas for parcels, or if they are picked up by a postal carrier, USPS will return the item to the shipper.
Returns may take a few days and tracking may become erratic when this happens.
Please check our USPS status of international services page for more Postal Service interruptions worldwide and also information on how USPS will handle refunds for postage.
In addition, we suggest you follow our page regarding how all shipping services are impacted by Russia’s war on Ukraine.
We will update this post as new information becomes available.
USPS Industry Alert for Russia
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Richard Meldner
Richard is co-founder of eSeller365. He has over 17 years of experience on eBay which includes tens of thousands of sales to buyers in over 100 countries and even has experience with eBay’s VeRO program enforcing intellectual property rights for a former employer. And for about two years Richard sold products on Amazon using Amazon FBA in the US.
To “relax” from the daily business grind, for a few weekends a year, he also works for IMSA as a professional race official.