Magazine World: Breakthrough in Postal Relations.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 8, 1999--

A Resolution for a Total Quality of Service Concept for Mutual Improvement was agreed between publishers and the Universal Postal Union (UPU) on 30 August at the UPU World Congress.

Held every 5 years, this was the first time that publishers had been invited to attend the event which took place in Beijing, China. Postal customers, represented by Per R. Mortensen, President & COO of the International Federation of the Periodical Press (FIPP) and the postal operators of UPU approved the resolution to establish best practices in their business relations and promote mutual understanding and co-operation to ensure constant improvement of quality of service at all levels.

The publisher's delegation to UPU included Thomas O. Ryder, chairman and Chief Executive Officer and Charles Marlier, Vice President International Supply Chain of The Reader's Digest Association and Ruud Denekamp, Distribution & Postal Affairs Director of Time Warner Publishing.

The Resolution should mark the beginning of dramatic improvements in international postal services used by publishers. These will include quality of service monitoring, the development of customer websites by postal operators, the standardisation of addressing, labelling and packaging requirements and involvement of the customer in the process of setting tariffs, terminal dues policies and practices.

Mortensen said: "The Resolution should serve as a template for the future working of the publishing industry and the post, not only internationally but regionally as well as domestic and locally." He continued: "We are pleased with the constructive dialogue and willingness to develop common standards and improvements at the Contact Committee level, however, we are also concerned about whether the obliging climate at Committee level is transmitted throughout the postal world and implemented on a local, domestic level. This will certainly be the great challenge for the years to come."

Presenting to delegates at the UPU World Congress, Thomas Ryder said: "The most promising opportunities come when the post forges partnerships -- truly strategic partnerships -- with its customers." He asked the post to rise to the challenge: "No one -- whether part of a government or a private-enterprise company -- can escape the competition of the global economy. We are eager to work with you to help in meeting that challenge." He concluded: "Working as strategic partners, I'm confident that we can grow and prosper together."The UPU/Publishers Contact Committee will meet in November to set working targets to develop the resolution into practice. FIPP will be conducting a new postal survey of rates and postage requirements for publishers in the next six months. FIPP is also coordinating a postal test in Asia. Fully sponsored by PTT Netherlands and UPU, the contributors to the pan-Asian mailings are McGraw-Hill, Miller Freeman and Reed Business Publishing.

EDITOR'S NOTES:

FIPP

The International Federation of the Periodical Press (FIPP) was founded in Paris, France in 1925. The administration has operated from London, UK since 1939.

FIPP works for the benefit of magazine publishers around the world. FIPP's mission is to promote nationally and internationally, the common editorial, cultural and economic interests of magazine publishers, both in print and electronic media. FIPP focuses its activities on freedom of the press, intellectual property, information provision, freedom to advertise, freedom of distribution and environmental protection.

Today, the membership of FIPP consists of more than 35 national magazine associations and almost 100 publishing and associate companies in direct membership. FIPP serves a global market with a total annual advertising expenditure revenue in the region of US$40 billion and approximately 100,000 titles based on figures from FIPP/Zenith World Magazine Trends 1999/2000.