The 19th Congress of the Postal Union of the Americas, Spain and Portugal (UPAEP) was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 10-16 August. The Congress was preceded on 9 August by a colloquium on postal reform and technical co-operation.
Portugal was represented at two levels, by the Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (ANACOM) and the CTT - Correios de Portugal (Portuguese postal service).
The following stand out among the various measures adopted:
- Creation of a new article in the UPAEP Constitution on the Union's mission;
- Approval of a period plan for 2006-2009, which envisages the adoption of extraordinary measures to resolve the issue of the debts of some member countries, as well as the Union's financial situation;
- Approval of a system of automatic sanctions to apply to debtor countries;
- Adoption of the realisation of an independent outside audit at the end of each financial year;
- Creation of a working group that will in the next two years study reform of the Union, to speed the UPAEP reorganisation process to submit to an extraordinary Congress in 2007 - the group, chaired by Mexico, comprises 10 countries representing the Union, among them Portugal;
- Approval of modifications to the operating rules of the Management Committee and the General Secretariat;
- Formal creation of a standing working group on Postal Regulation, chaired by Argentina and counting the participation of Portugal;
- To charge the Advisory Council and the executive body to periodically hold, during their annual meeting, a forum to deal with aspects related to postal sector regulation;
- Maintenance of a working group on UPU Reorganisation and the working subgroup on Future UPAEP Development, with Portugal continuing the chair the latter;
- Approval of a Technical Co-operation Manual and maintenance of a working group to produce a regulation that better frames the co-operation undertaken in UPAEP, of which Portugal is a member.
Also noteworthy is the holding of elections for the posts of Secretary General and Counsellor of the Union for the 2006-2009 period, to which Serrana Bassini Casco of Uruguay and Juan Ramón Martínez-Acha of Spain were respectively elected. Both will assume their positions in January 2006.
Also, Onelio Jesus Alfonso Pérez of Cuba was exceptionally appointed head of projects of the UPAEP General Secretariat and should likewise begin his duties in January 2006.
Lastly, the need to hold an extraordinary Congress in 2007 was considered. Its aim will be to carry out the extraordinary measures envisaged in the period plan, as well as other issues of interest for the Union. The ordinary Congress will take place in Chile in 2009.
