English pdf 4.95 mb - UPU - Universal Postal Union

24th UPU Congress to be held in GenevaIn view of the situation that persistedin Kenya, the Universal Postal Union’sCouncil of Administration decided on8 February to change the venue ofthe 24th Universal Postal Congressfrom Nairobi (Kenya) to Geneva(Switzerland).The Universal Postal Congress,which takes place every four years,will be held at the Geneva InternationalConference Centre from 23 Julyto 12 August 2008, bringing togethersome 1,500 delegates from 191 UPUmember countries.A resolution adopted by theCouncil recommends, however, thatCongress approve Kenya’s chairmanshipof the 2008 Congress as well asthe chairmanship of the UPU Councilof Administration from 2009 – 2012.This resolution also recommends thatNairobi be promoted as the venue forthe UPU Strategy Conference in2010. Kenya has not yet communicatedits response to this resolution.The International Bureau willorganize the Congress with the supportof the Swiss Government andSwiss Post. For further informationabout the 24th Universal Postal Congress,go to www.upu.int. RLA view of Lake Geneva and itsfamous water fountain.Gulf region to test RFID technologyIn a project coordinated by Qatar’spostal authority, Q-Post and twoother neighbouring Posts are testingvarious RFID (radio frequency identification)technologies to measurequality of service in the Gulf region.Since the beginning of March,the operators have been measuringtransmission times for letter postbetween Qatar, the United ArabEmirates and Saudi Arabia, usingRFID chips read remotely and withoutdirect visual contact, by means ofseven RFID readers or gates installedin mail processing centres.The project aims to study theprocess for integrating and interconnectingtwo separate technologiesvia some 4,000 “semi-active” and“passive” chips concealed in testenvelopes. The three-month projectwill provide specific information onthe combined use of different technologiesfor the UPU’s global qualityof service monitoring system. Eventually,this system will use RFID technologyto measure the time taken bythe destination country to forwardincoming mail to the final deliverypoint. This will enable a link to beestablished between quality of serviceand the rate of remuneration ofthe destination countries for themail.At the Postal Operations Councilin January, the quality of serviceproject group decided to go aheadwith this system and to focus on theinteroperability of different technologies.Various standards will be definedthis year, and the global monitoringsystem will enter its first pilotphase in 2009. It will then be extendedto all UPU member countries.As well as being a helpful tool for calculatingterminal dues, this systemcould be used by operators to improvemail flows. LW1/2008 Union Postale ·