Madrid hosted the annual session of the Postal Regulation Forum of the Postal Union of the Americas, Spain and Portugal (UPAEP), held on 26-28 November with the participation of various Latin American countries, Spain and Portugal (represented by ANACOM and the CTT), as well as the Universal Postal Union (UPU).
In the context of this forum dedicated to the subjects of regulation and co-operation in this area with the Latin American countries, the issues covered included postal sector competition, postal liberalisation in Europe and main aspects of the European Postal Directive, universal postal service and financing mechanisms, and the importance of network investment and the building of a solid information system (statistics, financing and overall accompaniment of postal operators) so that postal authorities can be informed about their market and thus adopt suitable measures.
The participants shared experience on postal regulation models in Europe and Latin America. The UPU International Bureau used the occasion to highlight the fundamental characteristics of regulatory activity and the regulator's role. As most members of the Union are countries whose characteristics are quite different from the European ones, with the majority not having a regulation model nor the figure of a regulator, the main concern expressed by the Latin American participants was the need to safeguard their respective situations in cases where a decision is made to implement a postal regulation model. For their part, the two European countries and the attending representatives of international organisations stressed the importance, above all, of the commitment of States and their governments to developing a regulatory model in the Latin American countries, while emphasising that there is no ideal or exemplary model for regulation. They agreed with the Latin American countries on the need to guarantee safeguards for the specific realities of each State.
The forum's results will be presented at the next meeting of the UPAEP Advisory and Executive Council, scheduled for next 10-14 March in Montevideo.
