Australian Treaty Series (not yet in force)

The plenipotentiaries of the Governments of the member-countries of the Asian-Pacific Postal Union, met in Congress at Singapore, in view of Article 20, paragraph 2, of the Constitution of the Asian-Pacific Postal Union done at Bangkok on 4 December 1985, have adopted, subject to ratification, acceptance or approval, the following amendments to that Constitution.

1. Any sovereign country which is a member of the Universal Postal Union, and whose entire territory is situated in Asia, Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia or Polynesia may accede to the Asian-Pacific Postal Union. For the purpose of this Article the term "Asia" shall refer to countries in Asia east of and including Iran.

2. Accession to the Union shall entail a formal declaration of accession to the Acts of the Union. It shall be addressed by the Government of the country concerned to the Director of the Central Office, who shall notify the accession or consult the member-countries on the application for admission.

3. Accession to membership shall be notified by the Director of the Central Office to the Governments of the other member-countries. It shall take effect from the date of such notification.

4. Any country which has the required qualifications but which cannot comply with any provision of Chapter V of the General Regulations may apply for membership to the Union with reservations.

5. Application for membership, in accordance with paragraph 4, shall be addressed by the Government of the country concerned to the Director of the Central Office, who shall consult the member-countries on the application for admission.

6. The country concerned is admitted if its request is approved by the majority of member-countries.

7. Member-countries failing to reply to the consultation within four months from the date of notification are considered as abstaining.

1. Any member-country has the right to withdraw from the Union by means of a notice of its renunciation of the Acts of the Union given by the Government of the country concerned to the Director of the Central Office and by him to the Governments of the other member-countries accordingly.

2. Withdrawal from the Union becomes effective at the expiry of one year from the date of receipt of the notification from the withdrawing country by the Director of the Central Office.

The purpose of the Centre is to provide training facilities and advisory services to improve postal services within Asia and the Pacific. The Centre shall be administered by a Governing Board whose composition, purpose and functions are prescribed in the General Regulations.

1. The Constitution is the basic Act of the Union. It contains the organic rules of the Union.

2. The General Regulations embody those provisions which ensure the application of the Constitution and the working of the Union and those provisions which concern the international postal service between the member-countries. They shall be binding on all member-countries.

3. The Additional Protocols of the Constitution and those of the General Regulations are the Acts of the Union.

4. The Final Protocol annexed to the General Regulations as their integral part contains the reservations to the General Regulations.

1. Signature of the Acts of the Union by plenipotentiaries shall take place at the end of Congress.

2. The Constitution and the Additional Protocols thereto and the other Acts of the Union shall be ratified, accepted or approved as soon as possible by the signatory countries in accordance with their constitutional regulations.

3. When a country does not ratify, accept or approve the Acts of the Union which it has signed, the Constitution and other Acts shall be no less valid for the other countries that have ratified, accepted or approved them.

The instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval of the Constitution and the Additional Protocols thereto, and such instruments of the other Acts of the Union shall be deposited as soon as possible with the Director of the Central Office who shall notify the Governments of the other member-countries of these deposits.

1. Member-countries which have not signed the Constitution and the Additional Protocols thereto, and the other Acts of the Union may accede to them at any time.

2. Formal declarations of accession shall be sent to the Director of the Central Office who shall notify the Governments of the member-countries of these deposits.

1. The Postal Administration of a member-country has the right to present to Congress proposals concerning the Acts of the Union.

2. However, proposals concerning the provisions of chapter V of the General Regulations may be submitted between Congresses.

1. To be adopted, proposals submitted to Congress and relating to this Constitution must be approved by at least two-thirds of the member-countries of the Union.

2. Amendments of the Constitution adopted by a Congress shall form the subject of an Additional Protocol of the Constitution and shall enter into force from the date set forth in that Protocol. They shall be ratified, accepted or approved as soon as possible by member-countries and the instruments of such ratification, acceptance or approval shall be dealt with in accordance with the procedure laid down in article 17.

1. The General Regulations define the conditions to be fulfilled for the approval of proposals which concern them.

2. Amendments of the General Regulations adopted by a Congress shall form the subject of an Additional Protocol of the General Regulations and shall enter into force from the date set forth in that Protocol. They shall be ratified, accepted or approved as soon as possible by member-countries and the instruments of such ratification, acceptance or approval shall be dealt with in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 17.

This Additional Protocol shall come into force on 1 July 1997 and shall remain in force for an indefinite period.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the plenipotentiaries of the Governments of the member-countries have drawn up this Additional Protocol, which shall have the same force and the same validity as if its provisions were inserted in the text of the Constitution itself, and have signed it in a single original which shall be deposited with the Government of the member-country in which the Central Office is situated. A copy thereof shall be delivered to each member-country by that Government.

DONE at Singapore, September 12, 1995.

The undersigned representatives, duly authorized by their respective Governments, having regard to Article 15, paragraph 2, of the Constitution of the Asian-Pacific Postal Union have, by common consent, and subject to Article 16, paragraph 2, of the Constitution, drawn up in these General Regulations the following provisions securing the application of the Constitution and the functioning of the Union as well as those concerning the international postal service between the member-countries.

1. English shall be used for the publication of documents of the Central Office and for official correspondence between the Central Office and the member-countries.

2. English shall be used in the deliberations of meetings of the organs of the Union. However, subject to arrangement for interpretation into English, other languages are admissible.

3. The costs of the interpretation mentioned in paragraph 2 shall be borne by the delegations using the alternative language. However, when French is concerned, the host country of the meetings shall furnish, as far as possible, any convenient means of interpretation to the delegations using this language.

Member-countries whose language is not English may provide for a translation at their own expense.

The conclusion of special agreements in accordance with Article 4 of the Constitution shall be notified through the intermediary of the Central Office to member-countries or their Postal Administrations, as the case may be.

Article 104 - Resolutions of the Congress

The Postal Administrations of member-countries shall inform the Central Office of the Union of the measures they may have taken to effect the resolutions and recommendations of the Congress.

1. The representatives of the member-countries of the Union meet in Congress not later than two years after the holding of each Universal Postal Congress in order to revise the Acts of the Union, if necessary, and to consider, as necessary, other postal problems of common interest to the member-countries.

2. Each country is represented in Congress by one or more delegates duly authorized for that purpose by their respective Governments. A country may arrange for its representation in Congress by another country, provided that a delegation represents and votes for only one country other than its own.

3. Each country has only one vote.

4. In principle, each Congress designates the country in which the next Congress is to be held. If that designation proves inapplicable or inoperative, it falls to the Executive Council to designate the country where Congress is to meet, after consultation with that country.

5. After consultation with the Central Office, the host Government fixes the date and place of the Congress. In principle, six months before that date, invitations are issued to the Government of each member-country of the Union by the Central Office on behalf of the host Government. However, should the host Government so desire, it may issue the invitations.

6. Observers may be invited to attend meetings of the Union in an advisory capacity without the right to vote, provided they represent the United Nations or one of its specialized Agencies or any other international organization having an interest in the work of the Union. Other observers may also be invited to attend provided that they represent other Restricted Postal Unions, or Postal Administrations of member-countries of the Universal Postal Union, or Postal Administrations of countries which are non-members of the Universal Postal Union and of non-self governing territories and other areas in Asia and the Pacific. At the request of the Congress or the Executive Council, the invitation is made by the Central Office. However, should the Government of the host country so desire, it may issue the invitations.

7. For the organization of its work and the conduct of its debates, Congress shall apply the Rules of Procedure of Congresses.

8. The place and date of assembly of an Extraordinary Congress is fixed by the Executive Council in agreement with the member-countries initiating the Congress.

9. The provisions of paragraphs 2, 3, 6 and 7 of this Article apply to Extraordinary Congresses.

1. The Executive Council comprises all the member-countries of the Union, with a quorum of the majority.

2. The Chairman of each Congress convenes the first meeting of the Council after the holding of that Congress. At the meeting, the Council elects from among its members a Chairman and a Vice-Chairman, who hold office until the conclusion of the next Congress. In the normal course the Chairmanship shall devolve by right on the host country of Congress but the latter may waive that right if it so wishes.

3. The annual meetings of the Executive Council following the first meeting are convened by its Chairman.

4. Each Executive Council meeting shall designate the country in which the next Executive Council meeting is to be held. When an Executive Council meeting has to be convened without a host country, the meeting shall be convened where the Central Office is situated.

5. Between ordinary sessions, the Council may be convened as a general rule at the place where the Central Office if situated, by the Chairman at the request of a two-thirds majority of the member-countries of the Union.

6. After consultation with the Chairman of the Executive Council, the host country fixes the date and place of the Executive Council meeting. Invitations to such meetings are issued to each member-country and observers by the Chairman of the Executive Council or, if the Chairman so desires, by the Central Office. However, should the host country so desire, it may issue the invitations.

7. The working expenditure of the Council is borne by the Union. The services of a Council member are gratuitous.

8. Member-countries shall be represented at meetings of the Council by qualified postal officials.

9. The functions of the Council are:

(a) to perform any duty assigned to it by a resolution of the Congress;

(b) to lay down the international postal service rules which shall provide for details necessary for the operation of the international postal service between the member-countries;

(c) to maintain contacts with Postal Administrations of the member-countries of the Union with a view to improving the postal service;

(d) to prescribe rules for the administration of the Central Office and to supervise the activities of the Central Office;

(e) to review and approve the annual budget and accounts of the Union prepared by the Central Office in the intervals between Congresses;

(f) to make useful contacts with the various organs of the Universal Postal Union, with the Restricted Unions or with other specialized Agencies of the United Nations with special interests in the area, and, if necessary, to appoint representatives to conferences of such organizations;

(g) to conclude agreements on behalf of the Union with the Universal Postal Union, and other Restricted Unions and International Organizations with regard to such matters as technical co-operation, with the concurrence of at least two-thirds of the members of the Union. The Council may authorize the Director of the Central Office to execute such agreements;

(h) to assemble, prior to each Universal Postal Congress, in accordance with the provisions of Article 115, paragraph 2;

(i) to take necessary steps, with the agreement of the majority of the members of the Union, provisionally to carry out such other administrative acts which are not covered by the Acts of the Union and cannot await the next Congress for settlement; and

(j) to decide whether the Union's budget for any particular year should include a contribution to the Asian-Pacific Postal Training Centre and, if so, indicate the amount of contribution.

10. The Council draws up the Rules of Procedure necessary for its work.

11. When necessary, consultations and decisions of the Council may be made by correspondence.

12. The Director of the Central Office assumes the tasks of Secretary-General of the Council.

13. The Council sends to the Postal Administrations of the member-countries of the Union, for information, a summary report at the end of each meeting of the Council.

14. The Council submits a report to each Congress on the whole of its activities.

15. The representative of each of the members of the Council shall be entitled to the reimbursement of the cost of an economy class return ticket for travel by air, sea or land by means of a deduction from the contribution of that country to the annual expenditure of the Union.

1. The Central Office is composed of a Director and such other staff as the Union may require.

2. The Director of the Central Office attends the meetings of the Union and takes part in the discussions without the right to vote.

3. The Central Office provides the Secretariat for meetings of the Union, jointly with the Postal Administration of the country where each meeting is held.

4. The Director of the Central Office is chosen, from among qualified postal officials, by Congress or, if necessary, by the Executive Council. The tenure of office is fixed by the body which selects the Director.

5. The Central Office is under the general supervision of the Executive Council and its financial accounts are audited by the competent authority of the country where the Central Office is situated.

1. The direction of the Central Office is entrusted to a Director assisted, if necessary, by qualified officials who have served at least five years in the postal service and who possess a working knowledge of French or any of the languages in Asia, in addition to English. The representation of the member-countries of the Union is taken into consideration in the selection of these officials. The Director appoints them, subject to the confirmation of the Executive Council, from among those who are recommended by their respective Postal Administrations, on condition that they satisfy the needs of the Central Office on the technical aspect.

2. The Director of the Central Office is its legal representative in all the functions performed by the said office pursuant to the Acts of the Union and to the decisions of Congresses of the Union.

3. Unless otherwise decided by the Executive Council, the Director represents the Union in international conferences regarding the postal service where representation of the Union is required.

1. The Central Office draws up the tentative agenda and makes other preparations for meetings of the Union.

2. This Office communicates with the Postal Administrations of member-countries of the Universal Postal Union in Asia and the Pacific which have not acceded to the Union on the advisability of their recommending to their Governments to apply for accession, through diplomatic channels, as members of the Union.

3. This Office should at all times be ready to furnish the Executive Council and the Postal Administrations of the Union with any necessary information on questions relating to the postal service.

4. This Office makes up an annual report on the activities of the Union, which is sent to the Postal Administration of each member-country. This report is to be approved by Congress, or by the Executive Council when the former does not convene. In the event of the Congress or the Executive Council not being convened within a period of five months of the year following that covered by the report, approval by each member-country of the Union shall be obtained by correspondence. Member-countries failing to reply within 40 days shall be regarded as having approved the report.

5. This office keeps an up-to-date collection of the postage stamps issued by the member-countries.

1. The Central Office of the Union furnishes gratuitously to the postal administration of each member-country and to the International Bureau of the Universal Postal Union at Berne, Switzerland, the documents which it publishes, allowing each administration the number of copies which corresponds to the number of units which it contributes. Additional copies of documents requested by Postal Administrations are paid for by them at cost.

2. The Central Office prepares and distributes among the Postal Administrations of the member-countries a schedule of all the proposals which it receives in accordance with Article 115, paragraph 1, of these General Regulations in order that such proposals may be studied by the said countries.

1. The responsibility for administering the Centre shall be entrusted to a Governing Board which shall meet at least once each year. The meetings shall be held in Bangkok unless decided otherwise.

2. In the discharge of its responsibilities to Congress, the functions of the Governing Board are:

(a) to determine rules for the administration of the Asian-Pacific Postal Training Centre;

(b) to direct the general training policy of the Centre;

(c) to approve and supervise the budget of the Centre;

(d) to appoint the managerial and teaching staff of the Centre; and

(e) to establish the scales of salaries and conditions of service for the Centre's managerial, teaching and administrative staff.

3. The Governing Board comprises the head of the host administration of the Centre as Chairman, the Chairman of the Executive Council and a representative of the postal administration of each participating country and of other member-countries which make a contribution to the activities of the Centre in cash, or in kind or by way of fellowships or supplied experts of not less than 10,000 dollars (United States) per annum, as full members with the right to vote. The Director of the Central Office of the Union, the Director-General of the International Bureau of the Universal Postal Union, or his representative, a representative of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and a representative of the United Nations Development Programme, may attend meetings of the Governing Board as observers. Any member-country of the Union not a member of the Governing Board may attend meetings of the Governing Board as an observer. The Board may decide to invite other observers as appropriate.

4. A participating country is a member-country of the Union which is a regular user of the Centre and which pays for some or all of its own students.

5. A member-country will not be considered a participating country if no self-funded students are sent for two consecutive years.

6. Member-countries other than participating countries referred to in paragraph 3 above shall not be entitled to be represented on the Governing Board if no assistance to the extent indicated is forthcoming for two year in succession.

7. Meetings of the Governing Board are convened by its Chairman.

8. If a request is received from two-thirds of the members of the Board, the Chairman shall convene an extraordinary session of the Governing Board, as a general rule, at Bangkok.

9. When necessary, consultations and decisions of the Governing Board may be made by correspondence.

10. The Director of the Asian-Pacific Postal Training Centre shall assume the task of Secretary of the Board.

11. The Governing Board shall submit a report to each Congress on its activities since the preceding Congress and its projected activities. The report should, for information, also contain details of past and proposed financial arrangements.

12. The budget of the Asian-Pacific Postal Training Centre is separate from the budget of the Union and shall be financed in principle by participating countries in direct proportion to their use of the Centre and by voluntary contributions of the other countries or organizations of the Union.

13. Contributions shall be paid to the Centre by 31 January of the year to which they pertain.

14. To cover shortfalls in financing a Reserve Fund shall be established, the amount of which shall be fixed by the Governing Board. This fund shall be maintained primarily from budget surpluses. It may also be used to balance the budget or to reduce the amount of participating member-countries contributions.

15. As regards temporary financing shortfalls the host country of the Centre will advance to the Governing Board the funds necessary to ensure the operation of the Centre provided that it is guaranteed reimbursement by the country concerned. The funds shall not exceed the limit of the Centre's budget.

16. Where funds are advanced by the host country of the Centre, the Postal Administration of each participating country shall reimburse the host country, through the Governing Board, the sum advanced on its behalf by virtue of the preceding paragraph. Such reimbursement shall be made as soon as possible and not later than one calendar year following the assessment agreed by the Governing Board.

17. To ensure the smooth running of the Centre, between successive Governing Board meetings, the Governing Board may establish a Local Executive Committee to which it may assign any necessary functions.

1. Proposals to be presented to Congress must reach the Central Office at least three months before the commencement of the Congress. Nevertheless, proposals which reach the Central Office within three months preceding the commencement of the Congress may also be considered at the discretion of Congress.

2. The procedure prescribed in paragraph 1 shall not apply to amendments to proposals already made.

3. The Central Office publishes the proposals and distributes them, as early as possible, among the Postal Administrations of the member-countries.

1. Reservations to the provisions of chapter V of the General Regulations shall be inserted in the Final Protocols to the General Regulations on the basis of a proposal approved by Congress.

2. Article 112, relating to the introduction of proposals to Congress shall not apply to proposals concerning reservations.

3. To be adopted, reservations submitted to Congress shall be approved by a majority of the member-countries present and voting.

4. Any member-country benefiting from a reservation may, at any time, waive the application of that reservation. The waiver shall be notified to member-countries through the Central Office.

1. Each proposal to amend the provisions of chapter V of the General Regulations and their Final Protocols submitted by a Postal Administration between Congresses shall be sent to other Postal Administrations through the intermediary of the Central Office.

2. Every proposal shall be subject to the following procedure: a period of two months shall be allowed to Postal Administrations of member-countries for consideration of the proposal notified by a Central Office circular, and for forwarding their observations, if any, to the Central Office. Amendments shall not be admissible. The replies shall be collected by the Central Office and communicated to Postal Administrations with an invitation to vote for or against the proposal. Those which have not sent their vote within a period of two months shall be considered as abstaining. The aforementioned periods shall be reckoned from the dates of the Central Office circulars.

3. Amendments made to the provisions of chapter V of the General Regulations and their Final Protocols shall be sanctioned by the notification of the Director of the Central Office to the Governments of member-countries.

1. The Postal Administrations of all member-countries shall make known to the other member-countries and to the Central Office, at the same time as they advise the International Bureau of the Universal Postal Union, the proposals which they submit to Universal Postal Congresses. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 3 of the Constitution, these proposals may be prepared in French.

2. Member-countries may assemble, prior to and during each Universal Postal Congress, in order to exchange and harmonize their views on the proposals and other important matters to be discussed there.

1. For the apportionment of the expenses of the Union, the member-countries are divided into four groups. Those contributing to the expenses of the Universal Postal Union as members of the over 50, 50, 40, 35, 25 and 20 unit classes contribute 5 units; those contributing as members of the 15, 10 and 5 unit classes contribute 3 units; those contributing as members of the 3 and 1 unit classes contribute 2 units; and those contributing as members of the half-unit class contribute 1 unit. However, a member-country may contribute more units.

2. Countries which accede to the Union as well as those which withdraw from the Union share in the expenditure of the Union for the entire year during which their accession or withdrawal becomes effective.

1. The expenditure of the Union shall not exceed the sum of 110,000 US dollars per annum.

2. The Central Office shall prepare, at least two months before the end of each calendar year, an estimate of the budget for the following year covering the period from January 1 to December 31, containing detailed data of its estimated expenditure and receipts as compared with the figures of the preceding budget and the previous final account. It shall submit this budget estimate to the Executive Council, or to Congress when it convenes, for approval. Pending such approval, the Central Office shall function within the limits of the budgetary figures of the preceding year.

3. The Central Office shall prepare, during the first quarter of each year, a report to which shall be attached a detailed final account of the preceding year and all documents regarding receipts and expenditure. This report shall be submitted to the Executive Council or to Congress for approval and for distribution to the Postal Administrations of the Union.

4. The expenditure of the Central Office shall be in accordance with the budget approved by the Executive Council or by Congress.

5. The limits laid down in paragraph 1 may be exceeded to enable the recruitment of personnel or otherwise to provide for the efficient operation of the Central Office, if a majority of the member-countries of the Union agrees.

6. Member-countries shall pay their contributions to the Union's annual expenditure in advance on the basis of the budget laid down by Congress or by the Executive Council. These contributions shall be paid not later than the first day of the financial year to which the budget refers. After that date, the sums due shall be chargeable with interest in favour of the Union at the rate of 3 percent per annum for the first six months and of 6 percent per annum from the seventh month.

7. To cover shortfalls in Union financing, a Reserve Fund shall be established, the amount of which shall be fixed by the Executive Council. This fund shall be maintained primarily from budget surpluses. It may also be used to balance the budget or to reduce the amount of member-countries' contributions.

As a general principle, no charge is collected for the territorial, fluvial or maritime transit of mail exchanged between member-countries of the Union. However, where member-countries find themselves unable to grant gratuitous transit, a charge may be made. This charge may be lower than that authorized or prescribed by the Universal Postal Convention.

For the purpose of these General Regulations, the term "letter post items" refers to such items as defined in the Acts of the Universal Postal Union.

In the relations of the Postal Administrations of the Union, reduced postage rates may apply to letters and postcards exchanged between them by surface. These rates may be fixed at a figure between their domestic rates and 85% of their international rates. Exceptionally, reduced rates may be applied to other letter-post categories and to airmail items.

1. Official correspondence exchanged between the following is exempt from all postal charges:

(a) the organs of the Union and Postal Administrations;

(b) the organs of the Union and organs of the Universal Postal Union; and

(c) the organs of the Union and other restricted postal unions.

2. The above exemption does not extend to airmail correspondence originating from the organs of the Union.

1. The provisions of these General Regulations and the international service rules which shall be laid down by the Executive Council, regulate all matters and services relative to letter post items exchanged between the member-countries of the Union.

2. All matters in connection with the exchange of letter post items among the member-countries of the Union which are not provided for in these General Regulations and the international service rules which shall be laid down by the Executive Council are subject to the provisions of the Acts of the Universal Postal Union.

1. To become effective, proposals submitted to Congress relating to these General Regulations shall be approved by a majority of the member-countries represented at Congress.

2. Member-countries may submit proposals to amend provisions of chapter V of these General Regulations between Congresses. To become effective, those proposals must be approved by the unanimity of votes. However, where they pertain to an interpretation of the provisions of this chapter, they must be approved by a majority of the votes, provided that such interpretation is not subject to the arbitration provided for in Article 23 of the Constitution.

Ratification, acceptance, or approval of the General Regulations shall carry denunciation of the Asian-Pacific Postal Convention done at Rotorua, 6 December 1990, for parties to the Convention. Such denunciation shall take effect for each party to the General Regulations on the date of entry into force of the General Regulations for each such party.

These General Regulations shall enter into force on 1 July 1997 and shall remain in force for an indefinite period.

IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, the undersigned, being duly authorized representatives of their respective Governments, have signed one copy of these General Regulations, which shall be deposited in the Archives of the Government of the member-country in which the Central Office is situated, and of which a duplicate shall be transmitted to each member-country by that Government.

DONE at Singapore, September 12, 1995.

[1] Amendments done at Singapore on 12 September 1995 are shown in italics.