The working group on Future UPAEP Development (WG FD) of the Postal Union of the Americas, Spain and Portugal (UPAEP) held a meeting last 16 March in Lisbon, chaired by Portugal. The gathering was pursuant to the WG FD action plan and the result of its work will be presented in the form of reports and proposals to the Consultative and Executive Council (CEC) in April and at the 21st UPAEP Congress in August. The two major topics discussed at this WG FD meeting were harmonisation of the UPAEP Acts and UPAEP reform.
With a view to revising the legal instruments that govern the UPAEP, efforts were made to:
- Compile the rules framework;
- Make the various UPAEP instruments compatible between each other; and
- Harmonise the UPAEP Acts with those of the UPU.
Regarding the UPAEP reform process, issues such as the following were examined:
- What the headquarters country's responsibilities should be;
- Establishment of a high level communication policy;
- Possibility of creating a ''sector committee'' like the UPU Advisory Committee, in which all postal sector players (including private operators) participate;
- Improvement of the UPAEP structure, based on a document drawn up by Portugal.
As a result of the work agreement was reached on about 60 proposals to modify the UPAEP Acts, which after editing the details will be submitted to the CEC'09 and to the Congress in Santiago (in cases of changes to fundamental instruments) for approval.
WG FD will continued working by electronic means. The date of the next physical meeting has yet to be determined. However, per previous practice, it should take place during the week of the CEC meetings, between 20 and 24 April 2009.
