Mailers should encase bulk mail in tinted shrinkwrap and seal windowed envelopes with a protective film while the post office creates two new classes of first class mail and restructures the postage rate schedule. These were among a number of recommendations coming out of a recent mail security conference hosted by the General Accounting Office.
Reps. Dan Burton (R-IN) and Henry Waxman (D-CA), chairman and ranking member of the House Government Reform Committee, requested the conference due to the discovery of anthrax in the mail stream. The conference was held in mid-December.
In letters to Burton and Waxman, the investigative arm of congress explained that many felt changing the postal service’s rate structure to include discounts and surcharges would encourage mailers to promote mail security. The GAO also said that creating two first class mail subclasses, one for single piece mail requiring extra security handling and another for presorted bulk mail requiring no additional handling, would also help boost mail security.
“Conference participants agreed that there is no single or simple solution for ensuring the safety of the mail,” the GAO said in its letters. It also recommended that officials of both the postal service and the mailing industry “work closely together to assess current risks, develop a framework for responding to potential treats and take immediate steps to secure the safety of the mail.”
Other major recommendations included:
* Creating a new classification for mail that is sealed and subject to irradiation resulting in slower delivery
* Developing of a national mail security program with mailers
* Encouraging mailers to improve the security of their facilities, screening employees and limiting access to their plants and shipping facilities
* Denying bulk mailers access to the mail system for insecure mail
* Having the USPS redesign and reduce the number of street mail collection boxes; re-examine its infrastructure, delivery standards, practices and procedures to improve both efficiency and security
* Having the USPS expand its retail presence in kiosks and mail service centers in food retail stores to make services involving identification available
* Expanding USPS mail tracking capabilities with digitally watermarked and/or indica on all stamps and prestamped envelopes, and
* Creating of a national database cross-linking e-mail and postal addresses so businesses could use hard-copy mail when customers do not respond to email.
