How Long Has the U.S. Postal Service Been Converting the Value of International Mail Shipments from U.S. Dollars to IMF SDRs?
August 30th, 2010Is this new?
Via: U.S. Postal Service:
323.6 Preparation of Insured Priority Mail International Parcels
323.61 Mailing Receipt and Insurance Number
All Priority Mail International insured parcels must be numbered. PS Form 2976-A, Customs Declaration and Dispatch Note — CP 72, and the mailing receipt issued at the time of mailing will serve as proof of mailing and proof of insurance. Volume mailers may use PS Form 3877, Firm Mailing Book for Accountable Mail, as the sender’s receipt.
323.62 Accepting Clerk’s Responsibility
The accepting clerk must do the following:
1. Indicate on PS Form 2976-A the amount for which the parcel is insured. Write the amount in U.S. dollars in ink in the “Insured Amount (U.S.) block.”
2. Convert the U.S. dollar amount to the special drawing right (SDR) value and enter it in the SDR value block. For example:
INSURED VALUE
$100.00 (U.S.)
65.76 SDR
3. See Exhibit 323.62 for a table showing the conversion of U.S. dollar values up to $600 to SDR equivalents. To determine SDR equivalents above $600, multiply the insured amount, rounded up to the next full dollar, by the conversion factor of 0.6576.
Note: Use the following rates when converting between U.S. dollars and SDR values:
1 U.S. $ = 0.6576 SDR
1 SDR = $1.52 ($1.5206 U.S.)
4. Write a bold capital “V” in the space provided adjacent to the boxes for Insured Amount and Insurance Fees as an indicator that additional insurance was purchased.
5. Indicate special contents for fragile, liquid, and perishable items.
6. Round stamp PS Form 2976-A in the appropriate place on each copy.
Good catch, wow. Haven’t seen that before.
Even to an financial and economic illiterate like myself this is fascinating. I’d be really interested to see what others have to say about the significance of this…?
Correction: “…a financial” etc.
I’m not sure how long. I know it’s used for sending mail internationally, vis-a-vis the Universal Postal Service. In short it’s the currency in which postal charges are balanced between member nations. I believe SDRs are also used to balance roaming charges among the International Telecommunications Union as well.
i don’t think there is anything deeply significant in this, more a symptom of the ongoing demise of the USD Empire. still, makes me want to study up on how SDRs are calculated…