The annual session of the Advisory and Executive Council of the Postal Union of the Americas, Spain and Portugal (UPAEP) was held in Montevideo on 16-18 March.
The following points stand out with regard to the Council?s work:
- Study of results of the 23rd Congress of the Universal Postal Union (UPU), held in Bucharest in 2004, and repercussions of the Bucharest World Postal Strategy on the UPAEP member countries;
- Signing of a co-operation agreement between UPAEP and the UPU, with the aim of developing postal services in the region;
- Evaluation of administrative questions, such as presentation of the financial year 2004 accounts and the General Secretariat?s strategy plan for the year 2005;
- Designation of authorities for the 19th Union Congress, to be held in Rio de Janeiro in August 2005.
The Advisory and Executive Council was preceded by meetings of the various working groups on 14-15 March, of which the following stand out:
- Standing Working Group on Postal Regulation - first group meeting, in which the decision was made to set up on the Union?s internet page the so-called ?UPAEP Digital Library?, a tool meant to provide information of a regulatory nature;
- UPU Reorganisation Working Group (chaired by Spain) and the Future UPAEP Development Working Subgroup (chaired by Portugal) - results of the 23rd UPU Congress and its consequences for UPAEP were studied, along with a set of proposals to modify the UPAEP Acts, to be presented at the next Congress;
- Technical Co-operation Working Group - work basically focused on the Technical Co-operation Manual, whose definitive version should be presented at the next Congress and which will serve as a guide for the drawing up and implementation of technical co-operation projects.
Portugal was represented at this meeting by the Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (ANACOM) and the CTT - Correios de Portugal (Portuguese postal service).
