Service Alert | APC Postal Logistics

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Service Alert - 23 September 2020

APC Postal Logistics and COVID-19

APC continues to track the COVID-19 situation and its impact to shipping. Please ensure you are checking the country-specific restrictions as it is updated daily. Our “Service Alerts” are always posted on our website at APC - Service Alert.

APC continues to work hard at minimizing the impact to you. We do anticipate possible delivery delays due to air uplift, cancellations, closures and other factors due to the crisis but we continue to operate, process and export mail and parcels at all our facilities.

As a company, our staff is maintaining all suggested precautionary guidelines. We are available and prepared to assist.
Thank you in advance for your understanding and patience during this uncertain time.

Country Specific Restrictions Due to COVID-19

Due to restrictions imposed by governments and/or carriers due to the COVID-19 outbreak, please do not send any shipments to the following countries until further notice:

Service has been RESTORED to the following countries:

SAUDI ARABIA: 12 APRIL 2020 - See restrictions noted below

ISRAEL: 08 MAY 2020

15 MAY 2020:

BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA
ESTONIA
MOLDOVA
MONTENEGRO

22 MAY 2020:

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA
ARUBA
BARBADOS
BELIZE
COLOMBIA
JAMAICA
NICARAGUA
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

12 JUNE 2020:

SOUTH AFRICA*

26 JUNE 2020:

BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS
SAUDI ARABIA

02 JULY 2020:

ALGERIA
EGYPT
KAZAKHSTAN
MOROCCO
QATAR
TUNISIA

10 JULY 2020:

BAHAMAS
BANGLADESH
INDIA
GUATEMALA
KUWAIT
OMAN
PHILIPPINES
SENEGAL
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

17 JULY 2020:

BAHRAIN
BENIN
BURKINA FASO
BURUNDI
CAPE VERDE
CURACAO
ETHIOPIA
FAROE ISLANDS
GHANA
GRENADA
GUINEA BISSAU
KENYA
LEBANON
LESOTHO
MALDIVES
MOZAMBIQUE
NAMIBIA
NIGERIA
PAKISTAN
SRI LANKA
ST. MARTEN
SURINAME
SWAZILAND
ZAMBIA

24 JULY 2020:

ARGENTINA
CHILE
COLOMBIA
PARAGUAY
PERU
URUGUAY

31 JULY 2020:

NEPAL

07 AUGUST 2020:

NEW CALEDONIA

14 AUGUST 2020:

COSTA RICA
GUATEMALA
AMERICAN SAMOA

21 AUGUST 2020:

ANGOLA
BERMUDA
CAMEROON
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
DOMINICA
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
FRENCH POLYNESIA
GAMBIA
GUYANA
HAITI
IVORY COAST
RWANDA
TANZANIA
UGANDA
ZIMBABWE

11 SEPTEMBER 2020:

COOK ISLANDS

18 SEPTEMBER 2020:

BAHAMAS
BHUTAN
BOTSWANA
CAYMAN ISLANDS
LESOTHO
MALAWI
SOUTH AFRICA
SWAZILAND

25 SEPTEMBER 2020:

BOLIVIA
ECUADOR
KIRIBATI
KYRGYZSTAN
VENEZUELA

**Due to the current backlog of items on hold, please allow additional processing time for these countries.

These countries currently have restrictions:

ECUADOR, JORDAN, PANAMA:

No parcelConnect services currently available. The following services are available:

Priority International
Standard International

Note: Customers should expect significant delays in all international inbound and outbound mail services to/from these countries.

OE – Office of Exchange

This transportation alternative will be used for the following mail classes; Priority Mail Express International® (PMEI), Priority Mail International® (PMI), First-Class Mail International® (FCMI), First-Class Package International Service® (FCPIS®), International Priority Airmail® (IPA®), International Surface Air Lift® (ISAL®), and M-Bag® items.

The Postal Service is closely monitoring the situation and will continue to update customers until the situation returns to normal.

Customers should expect delays to all counties where mail and parcels are being accepted for delivery.

Update: Brazil Post Strike

Here is the latest information that we have regarding the postal strike in Brazil.

• Yesterday the Superior Labor Court of Brazil ruled that the postal strike must end as of today September 22; employees not returning to work would face fines.
• The National Postal Workers Union (FENTECT) instructed its members to continue with the strike in spite of the ruling.
• Correios (the Brazil Postal Service) reports that nearly 93% of its workforce is back to work today.

We expect that the delays that we have been seeing should start to dissipate over the coming days, especially as more employees come back to work.

24 August 2020

The Brazilian Post (Correios) has put out this bulletin Correios

Below we have translated the most important excerpts.

The Post Office remains firm in its strategies to continue serving the population. The company's intercity and interstate transport network continues to operate at 100% capacity, making daily connections from all operational bases in the country. In addition, the branch network is open, offering services and products, including SEDEX (Packet Express) and PAC (Packet Standard), which continue to be posted and delivered.

Measures such as the reassigning of employees to assist in the operation, the relocation of vehicles and the carrying out of joint efforts on weekends are being adopted to guarantee the postal flow. Possible initiatives due to the efforts of the vast majority of the staff, who are committed to serving Brazilians at a time when they need it most. A partial survey, carried out yesterday, shows that more than 80% of the 99 thousand employees continue to work regularly.

For this reason, to assist your company in decision making and maintain the transparency of our business relationship, we inform below the added business days for delivery, effective from 08/22/2020

Barcelona, Spain - Embargoed Postcodes

Please see the below embargoed postcodes in Spain – Barcelona area, part of a Spanish government directive. These areas have been closed off as this is a main impact area for Coronavirus.

At this stage APC hasn't pulled the data on items being sent into this area via Seur & Correos but will keep you informed. For parcels received for these postcodes, these will be returned to the originator.

8672, 8695, 8698, 8699, 8700, 8710, 8711, 8712, 8718, 8719, 8773, 8779, 8781, 8782, 8783, 8784, 8785, 8786, 8787, 8788, 8789, 8791

Brazil Customs Requirement

We have been informed that effective January 1, 2020, Brazil Customs will require the importer's Tax Identification Number** to be provided for all items containing goods sent to recipients in Brazil.

Customs is stating that it will not accept shipments not containing this number and that items missing this information is subject to return.

Please note, APC will continue to ship all packages destined to Brazil normally, with or without the recipient Tax ID number included but recommends that you begin gathering the required information from your Brazilian recipients to minimize any potential returns due to the Tax ID number not being included on the address label.

Please contact your APC sales representative if you have questions.

_________________________________________

** In Brazil, the importer's Tax ID Number is known as CPF (format: 000.000.000-00) for natural persons and CNPJ (format: 00.000.000/0000-00) for legal persons

Secretary of Transportation Orders Suspension of Air Service Between the U.S. and Venezuela

With the approval of the Secretary of State and in close coordination with the Acting Secretary of Homeland Security, Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao has issued an order today suspending air service between the United States and Venezuela.

Federal law authorizes the Secretary of Transportation, with the approval of the Secretary of State, to take immediate action to suspend the rights of foreign and U.S. air carriers to provide service between the U.S. and foreign airports when conditions exist at those airports that threaten the safety or security of passengers, aircraft, or crew.

The Acting Secretary of Homeland Security has requested this action based on his assessment of current security conditions in Venezuela, and the Secretary of State has given his approval. Secretary Chao has agreed to the request and is exercising her statutory authority to suspend air service to Venezuela.

The Secretary's suspension order is in addition to the FAA's Notice to Airmen issued on May 1, which prohibits most U.S.-certified aircraft operators and pilots from flying below 26,000 feet over the territory of Venezuela, also for reasons of safety and security.

Through APC, as of today (but subject to change), you can continue using the following services to send parcels into Venezuela during this suspension period.

• parcelconnect Priority DDU

• parcelConnect Priority DDU Delcon

• parcelConnect USPS PQW

• parcelConnect ePMI DDU

• parcelConnect ePMEI DDU

The following APC services to Venezuela will be unavailable during this suspension period.

• All Courier services

• parcelConnect Expedited DDU

• parcelConnect Expedited DDP

• parcelConnect Priority DDP Delcon

• parcelConnect Priority DDP

Embargoed Countries

Due to international embargoes all volumes to the following destinations will cease with effect 30th July 2019:
• Iran
• North Korea
• Syria
• Sudan
• Somalia
• Ukraine (Crimea and Sevastopol only - remaining country can be dispatched)