Service Alert - 06 November 2024



In an effort to ensure you’re aware of any service disruptions that may impact your business, please see the postal and carrier alerts and updates around the globe.

We will update regularly with continuing news and information as we receive it, in order to keep your operations informed.



Around the Globe

CANADA

CONTINUOUS UPDATE: Canada Post and Labor Negotiations

 

Canada Post and CUPW continue discussions

Discussions continue and both Canada Post and the CUPW remain at the negotiations table. Canada Post has received counteroffers in response to the most recent global offer they presented to the CUPW and is being evaluated.  

 

Canada Post operations continue as usual. All customers should continue to ship their mail and parcels normally.

 

How can APC Postal Logistics help if a Canada Post disruption occurs?

APC Postal Logistics utilizes a vast network within Canada for your parcel** deliveries. If there is a service disruption with Canada Post, APC has the unique ability to re-route and deliver your orders. We will continue to follow up with you directly with options if a labor disruption occurs.

 **Please note that if you are a mail customer, all deliveries are made by Canada Post.

 

Stay up to date

We will continue to keep you up to date with any new developments through our alerts.

You may also visit CUPW Negotiations updates for updates.

 


SPAIN

Due to a storm in parts of Spain, delays are expected in the delivery of mail and parcels in the areas of Albacete, Valencia, and the Balearic Islands.


ITALY

Due to flooding in Northern Italy, delays are expected in the delivery of mail and parcels in Northern Italy.


IRELAND

Due to severe weather conditions during transport to Ireland, delays are expected in the delivery of mail and parcels in Ireland.


ECUADOR

We would like to inform you about upcoming power cuts and holiday closures in Ecuador that may impact deliveries this week.

The Ecuadorian Government has scheduled 14-hour power cuts; although airport and EMSA operations remain operational through generators, some delivery delays may occur as our teams face intermittent cell phone service during outages.

Additionally, Ecuador will observe a long weekend starting Thursday, including public holidays for "Day of the Dead" (Nov 1) and "Independence of Cuenca" (Nov 4). The President has extended the holiday to support the tourism industry. As a result, courier and postal services will be affected from Thursday to Monday.


JORDAN

Due to transport issues and the current situation in Jordan, delays are expected in the delivery of mail and parcels in Jordan.


IRAQ

Due to transport issues and the current situation in Iraq, delays are expected in the delivery of mail and parcels in Iraq.


UNITED STATES

Due to severe weather conditions in the United States, delays are expected in the delivery of mail and parcels in the following states: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.


BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Mail and parcels to certain areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina may be delayed due to floods. The affected region is the Herzegovina-Neretva canton.


ALBANIA

Heavy rainfall causes flooding in parts of Albania: Media sources reported that heavy rainfall on October 6 caused flooding in several parts of Albania. The city of Vlora was among the hardest-hit areas, where at least 55 people were evacuated. Other affected areas include Tirana, Durres, Fier, and Lezhe. The utility provider cut electricity in affected areas. Business and logistics disruptions are likely.


CROATIA

Heavy rainfall causes flooding in Croatia: Media sources on October 3 report that heavy rainfall has caused flooding in Rijecka and Istria, Croatia. The areas most affected by the flooding include Sveti Lovreč, Novigrad and Rijeka. Landslides and flooding have reportedly closed several roadways and created widespread traffic disruptions. Further rainfall is reportedly expected in the coming days. Business and logistics disruptions can be expected.


LEBANON

Due to transport issues and the current situation in Lebanon, delays are expected in the delivery of mail and parcels in Lebanon.


PORTUGAL

Due to forest fires in certain parts of Portugal, we expect delays in the delivery of mail and parcels in the regions of Porto, Braga, Viana do Castelo and Aveiro.


AUSTRIA

Due to flooding in Lower Austria and other parts of Austria, restrictions may occur in parcel delivery. The situation in Austria has fundamentally improved. Yesterday partial deliveries were possible in most areas. Since Today in most base areas deliveries are possible again. However, massive road closures are expected in some delivery areas.

Expected delay: 3-5 days


CZECH REPUBLIC

Due to flooding in Czech Republic, some of the services may be limited, primarily in the region of northern Moravia - mainly in the areas of Krnov, Opava, Ostrava and Jeseníky.


POLAND, ROMANIA, SLOVAKIA

Due to flooding in Poland, Romania and Slovakia, delays are expected in the delivery of mail and parcels.

Expected delay: 3-5 days


LAOS

Due to flooding in certain areas of Laos, delays are expected in the delivery of mail and parcels in Laos.


THAILAND

Due to flooding in certain areas of Thailand, delays are expected in the delivery of mail and parcels in postcodes areas 13XXX, 50XXX, 57XXX, 63XXX and 65XXX in Thailand.


AUSTRALIA

Due to severe weather conditions in certain areas of Vietnam, delays are expected in the delivery of mail and parcels in Vietnam.


ITALY

Local media sources report that heavy rain accompanied by severe thunderstorms had caused flooding on roads and low-lying across Rome on September 3. Flooding and bad weather had affected traffic in the city. Logistics and business disruptions are expected in the affected areas.


ISRAEL

Multiple airlines originating from the US, Europe and other regions of the world are cancelling flights to Israel, as concerns grow over the instability in the area.

Parcels and mail that are received by APC that cannot be routed properly will be held until normal service resumes.

Please expect delays in the delivery of parcels and mail to Israel.

We are sorry for this inconvenience and will keep you updated with news as it develops.


BRAZIL

Brazilian Customs has now published the new duty and tax law but the final version has significant changes from the proposed decree shared on June 28th.


The law now only applies to shippers that are part of the Program Remessa Conforme (PRC). This is an effort to incentivize companies to become part of the program.


Shippers/sellers that are not part of the PRC have no change in the duty and tax calculation which maintains duties at 60% of the CIF value plus 17% of the ICMS tax.

The law will go into effect on August 1.


ISRAEL

Israel Post would like to inform you that, as a result of the ongoing conflict and severe military situation in Israel, it is currently unable to deliver postal items to, or receive them from, the Gaza Strip.

Therefore, there will be no postal exchanges with the Gaza Strip until further notice.


UNITED KINGDOM

Royal Mail continues to dispatch export mails for all subclasses utilizing international mail processing center (IMPC) codes GBLALE and GBATHA through the UPU Postal Technology Centre’s IPS Cloud solution. Outbound dispatches are still being delayed and tracking elements impacted owing to the fact that the Heathrow Worldwide Distribution Centre (HWDC) is not currently fully operational.

Import letter-post volumes to the UK are being subjected to continued delays, which is negatively affecting quality of service owing to the need to use contingency operational sites, processes and routings in the UK to mitigate the lack of processing capability at the HWDC import office of exchange.

Clearance delays should be expected.


CANADA'S BAN ON CERTAIN HARMFUL SINGLE-USE PLASTICS

Effective December 20, 2022, the manufacture and import for sale of the following harmful single-use plastics in Canada will be prohibited:


To provide businesses in Canada with enough time to transition and to deplete their existing stocks, the Regulations will enter into force through a phased approach:


* Exceptions to the ban on straws allow single-use plastic flexible straws to remain available for people in Canada who require them for medical or accessibility reasons. This includes for use at home, in social settings, or in healthcare settings, such as hospitals and long term care facilities. All other types of single-use plastic straws will be prohibited.


RUSSIA, AFGHANISTAN

No Russian and Afghanistan transportation as of yet. International Transportation will keep us posted


BELARUS SERVICE SUSPENSION - EFFECTIVE 22 JULY 2022

Due to restrictions imposed by governments and/or carriers related to the COVID-19 pandemic, we ask that you please not send any shipments destined to Belarus until further notice.

Please note, if material to Belarus is received by APC accidentally, we will ship once restrictions have been lifted and service resumes.

If you have any additional questions, please contact your Customer Service Representative or your Sales Representative.


UKRAINE

The designated operator of Ukraine, Joint Stock Company “Ukrposhta”, wishes to update all on the situation with postal operations following the Russian Federation’s military actions towards Ukraine.

Situation as of 10.00 on Monday, 28 February 2022:

Despite ongoing heavy fighting in Kyiv, other major cities and other locations in Ukraine, Ukrposhta has opened post offices in 20 regions, so that customers can receive pensions and other benefits, and receive parcels. The working hours of most open post offices will be reduced to enable staff to return home earlier.

With road access for postal exchanges with its centre in Kyiv severely limited, Ukrposhta has moved some outbound mail processing operations to the Lviv office of exchange.

Ukrposhta is again asking the designated operators of other Union member countries to send their international postal items to Ukraine in closed transit via Poland, Slovakia or Latvia. Ukrposhta is collecting the consignments from those countries.

Ukrposhta is doing its best to deliver all incoming postal items to addressees in Ukraine as quickly as possible; however, this will depend on the security situation in specific locations, as the lives of staff and customers are the top priority.

Many designated operators have asked how they can help Ukraine, so a special “Help Ukraine” project (helpukraine.center/en) has been launched to provide humanitarian aid. Currently, the project involves one warehouse in Poland, but more will be added, probably also in other countries. A green corridor will be organized for such humanitarian aid. Those wishing to help Ukraine are asked to use this special warehouse as a transhipment terminal.

If postal customers abroad wish to send aid to specific addressees in Ukraine, they are kindly requested to send it in closed transit via the Polish, Slovak or Latvian Post. The value of such private parcels may not exceed 100 EUR.

Ukrposhta is grateful for all the incredible support that the world is providing to Ukraine and to Ukrposhta at this difficult time. It will continue to inform the international postal community about any developments.


Holidays

Monday, 28 October 2024

CZECH REPUBLIC - Independence Day
CYPRUS, GREECE - Ochi Day
IRELAND - October Bank Holiday



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:


Country Restrictions


Service has been RESTORED to the following countries:

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


06 OCTOBER 2023


02 JUNE 2023


28 APRIL 2023


31 MARCH 2023


02 DECEMBER 2022


11 MARCH 2022:


04 MARCH 2022:


04 FEBRUARY 2022


14 JANUARY 2022:


10 SEPTEMBER 2021:


06 AUGUST 2021:


09 JULY 2021:


18 JUNE 2021:


28 MAY 2021:


14 MAY 2021:


07 MAY 2021:


02 APRIL 2021:


26 MARCH 2021:


05 MARCH 2021:


05 FEBRUARY 2021:


29 JANUARY 2021:


08 JANUARY 2021:


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


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

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)