UNCLASSIFIED (U)

14 FAH-4 H-100
GENERAL information

14 FAH-4 H-110

Introduction

(CT:DPM-31; 04-17-2019)
(Office of Origin: A/LM)

14 FAH-4 H-111 SCOPE AND purpose

(CT:DPM-29; 05-03-2018)

a. The Director, Office of the Diplomatic Pouch and Mail Division (A/LM/PMP/DPM) establishes procedures to efficiently and effectively manage mail and pouch facilities of the Department of State Diplomatic Pouch and Mail (DPM) system in domestic offices and U.S. missions abroad.

b. This handbook describes how to prepare, dispatch, and receive items through the Department's pouch and mail channels. Chapters are organized as follows:

(1) 14 FAH-4 H-200, Diplomatic Pouch Descriptions and Procedures; and

(2) 14 FAH-4 H-300, Procedures for Mail and Correspondence.

14 FAH-4 H-112 Integrated Logistics Management System (ILMS) requirements

(CT:DPM-29; 05-03-2018)

a. The Department utilizes the Integrated Logistics Management System (ILMS-DPM) module to operate Diplomatic Pouch & Mail around the world. DPM mailroom personnel must use ILMS-DPM to process incoming (prograde) and outgoing (retrograde) pouch and mail. Users must submit requests to access ILMS DPM through an ILMS iForm (User Access Request Form), which can be found at the ILMS Knowledge Center. The ILMS training guide is available on the ILMS DPM Home Page. If you have any problems accessing the online iForm, contact the ILMS Support Desk at ilms@state.gov. For additional instructions on how to process incoming and outgoing pouch and mail, access the ILMS Training Tutorials. For further guidance, please contact DPM-Answerperson@state.gov.

b. The DPM Office (A/LM/PMP/DPM) website provides useful information, references, updates, and contact information. DPM can be contacted via email at DPM-Answerperson@state.gov.

NOTE: Prograde mail is defined as mail originating in the United States and destined for locations abroad. Retrograde mail is defined as mail originating abroad and destined for the United States.

14 FAH-4 H-113 post categories

(CT:DPM-2; 05-06-2009)

There are five categories of posts for pouch and mail purposes. For a list of posts by category, see 14 FAH-4 Exhibit H-113.

14 FAH-4 H-113.1 Category A Posts - MPS

(CT:DPM-29; 05-03-2018)

a. Category A posts have full access to the Military Postal Service (MPS). Generally, all incoming and outgoing personal mail is processed through a Military Post Office (MPO) at category A posts (see paragraph b). The MPO uses the APO/FPO as the city, and AA, AE, or AP as the State.

b. Personal mail: Authorized personnel assigned to Category A posts must use the MPS for sending and receiving personal mail. Exception: Authorized personnel may use the diplomatic pouch for receiving personal mail only when a vendor will not mail to a military post office address, (advance notification, restrictions or transportation fee may apply to certain items/shipments). For further guidance, please contact DPM-Answerperson@state.gov.

c. Official mail: DPM strongly encourages Category A posts to send and receive official items through the diplomatic pouch.

d. Inbound mail: The mailrooms in Category A posts may accept incoming MPS mail that may be forwarded to neighboring non-MPS posts. Posts willing to act as mail forwarders must request and receive approval from DPM. Mail received via the MPS for forwarding to another post, by diplomatic pouch, must meet all diplomatic pouch criteria, such as length, width, girth, and weight limits, and comply with all other pouch prohibitions and restrictions.

e. Outbound mail: Posts are required to pay for retrograde mail.

14 FAH-4 H-113.2 Category B Posts - Pouch

(CT:DPM-29; 05-03-2018)

a. Category B (pouch only) posts have full access to the diplomatic pouch system for official and personal items. These posts do not have access to MPS or DPO facilities, or to the United States Postal Service (USPS). Items destined for category B posts (20189 or 20521 ZIP Codes) are thoroughly screened and processed at the SA-32 facility located in Sterling, VA. See 14 FAM 742.2-2 for specific policies sending personal items through diplomatic pouch.

b. Inbound mail: Authorized personnel at Category B posts may use the pouch to receive all mailable matter (i.e., letters, postcards, periodicals, and parcels containing merchandise,) provided shipments meet all diplomatic pouch criteria, such as length, width, girth, weight limits, and comply with all other pouch prohibitions and restrictions. Individual items must fit in a pouch bag. Authorized personnel must ensure that all mailers know the size and weight limitations. See 14 FAM 720 regarding pouch policy.

c. Outbound mail: Authorized personnel at Category B (pouch) posts may send personal letter mail, flats, and parcels no larger in size than 7 x 4 x 1 (approximately the size of a video cassette box) and weighing no more than two pounds per sender per shipment to authorized personnel at other Category B posts. Personal correspondence from Category B (pouch) posts to Category A (MPS) and C (DPO) posts may be sent by pouch if direct pouch service is available. If direct pouch service is not available, mailers should send items in a Washington-bound pouch, addressed to the recipients MPS or DPO address with appropriate U.S. postage and required customs form(s) affixed. Posts are required to pay for retrograde mail.

14 FAH-4 H-113.3 Category C Posts - DPO

(CT:DPM-29; 05-03-2018)

a. Category C posts have full access to the Diplomatic Post Office (DPO).

b. Personal mail: Authorized personnel assigned to Category C posts must use the DPO for sending and receiving personal mail. For further guidance, please contact DPM-Answerperson@state.gov.

c. Official mail: Category C posts are required to send and receive official items through the diplomatic pouch.

d. Inbound mail: The mailrooms in Category C posts may accept incoming DPO mail that they agree to forward to neighboring non-DPO posts. Posts willing to act as mail forwarders must request and receive approval from DPM. Mail received via the DPO for forwarding to another post by pouch must meet all diplomatic pouch criteria, such as length, width, girth, and weight limits, and comply with all other pouch prohibitions and restrictions.

e. Outbound mail: Posts are required to pay for retrograde shipments.

14 FAH-4 H-113.4 Category D Posts - International Mail

(CT:DPM-2; 05-06-2009)

Category D posts should send and receive all personal mail by international mail and all official mail by pouch.

14 FAH-4 H-113.5 Category E Posts - USPS

(CT:DPM-29; 05-03-2018)

Category E posts should send and receive mail via USPS ZIP Codes, either directly or through border city support.

14 FAH-4 H-114 THROUGH H-119 UNASSIGNED

14 FAH-4 Exhibit H-113
Post Mail Categories

(CT:DPM-31; 04-17-2019)

Post	MPS	Pouch Posts	DPO	International Mail	U.S. Mail Address
Post Category	A	B	C	D	E
Abidjan		X
Abu Dhabi			X
Abuja		X
Accra			X
Adana	X
Addis Ababa		X
Alexandria	(1)
Algiers		X
Almaty			X
Amman			X
Amsterdam			(1)
Ankara			X
Antananarivo			X
Antwerp (ELSO)	(1)
Apia			(1)
Ashgabat		X
Asmara		X
Asuncion			X
Athens			X
Auckland			(1)
Baghdad			X
Baku		X
Bamako			X
Bandar Seri Begawan			(1)
Bangkok	X
Bangui		X
Banja Luka		X
Banjul			(1)
Barcelona			(1)
Basrah			X
Beijing			(1)
Beirut		X
Belfast			(1)
Belgrade			X
Belmopan			X
Berlin			X
Bern			(1)
Bishkek			X
Bogot			X
Bordeaux			(1)
Brasilia			(1)
Bratislava			X
Brazzaville			(1)
Bridgetown			X
Brussels (EMB)			X
Bucharest			X
Budapest			X
Buenos Aires			X
Bujumbura		X
Busan (APP)	(1)
Cairo	X
Calgary				X
Canberra			X
Cape Town		X
Caracas			X
Casablanca			(1)
Chengdu			(1)
Chennai		X
Chiang Mai	(1)
Chisinau		X
Ciudad Juarez					X
Colombo			(1)
Conakry			X
Copenhagen			X
Cotonou			(1)
Curaao	X
Dakar			X
Damascus			(1)
Dar es Salaam			X
Dhahran	X
Dhaka			X
Dili			(1)
Djibouti	X
Doha	X
Douala		X
Dubai			X
Dublin			X
Durban		X
Dushanbe		X
Dsseldorf			(1)
Edinburgh			(1)
Erbil			X
Florence			(1)
Fortaleza (APP)				X
Frankfurt			X
Freetown		X
Fukuoka			(1)
Gaborone		X
Geneva			X
Georgetown		X
Guadalajara					X
Guangzhou			(1)
Guatemala City			X
Guayaquil			(1)
Halifax		X
Hamburg			(1)
Hamilton		X
Hanoi			X
Harare		X
Havana		X
Helsinki			X
Herat	(1)
Hermosillo					X
Hillah	X
Ho Chi Minh City			X
Hong Kong			X
Hyderabad		X
Islamabad			X
Istanbul			X
Jakarta			X
Jeddah			X
Jerusalem			(1)
Johannesburg		X
Juba		X
Kabul			X
Kampala			X
Kaohsiung Taiwan		X
Karachi			X
Kathmandu			X
Khartoum		X
Kigali		X
Kingston			X
Kinshasa			X
Kolkata		X
Kolonia					X
Koror					X
Krakow			(1)
Kuala Lumpur			X
Kuwait City			X
Kyiv			X
La Paz			X
Lagos		X
Lahore			(1)
Leipzig			(1)
Libreville		X
Lille (APP)			(1)
Lilongwe		X
Lima			X
Lisbon			X
Ljubljana			X
Lom			(1)
London			X
Luanda		X
Lusaka			X
Luxembourg	X
Lyon (APP)			(1)
Madrid			X
Majuro					X
Malabo		X
Managua			X
Manama			X
Manila			X
Manaus (APP)			(1)
Maputo		X
Marseille			(1)
Maseru		X
Matamoros					X
Mazar-e-Sharif	(1)
Mbabane		X
Medan		X
Melbourne			X
Merida (APP)					X
Mexico City					X
Milan			(1)
Minsk			(1)
Monrovia		X
Monterrey					X
Montevideo			X
Montral					X
Moscow		X
Mumbai		X
Munich			X
Muscat	X
Nagoya			(1)
Naha	(1)
Nairobi			X
Naples	(1)
Nassau			X
NDjamena		X
New Delhi		X
Niamey		X
Nice (APP)			(1)
Nicosia			X
Nogales					X
Nouakchott		X
Nuevo Laredo					X
Nur-Sultan			X
Osaka-Kobe			(1)
Oslo			X
Ottawa					X
Ouagadougou			X
Panama City			X
Paramaribo			X
Paris			X
Perth			X
Peshawar			(1)
Phnom Penh	(1)
Podgorica			(1)
Ponta Delgada	X
Port-au-Prince			X
Port Louis			X
Port Moresby		X
Port of Spain		X
Prague			X
Porto Alegre (APP)
Praia		X
Pretoria		X
Pristina			X
Qubec City					X
Quito			X
Rabat			X
Rangoon	(1)
Recife			(1)
Rennes (APP)			(1)
Reykjavik		X
Riga			X
Rio de Janeiro			X
Riyadh	X
Rome			X
Salvador da Bahia (APP)				X
San Jose			X
San Salvador			X
Sanaa		X
Santiago			X
Santo Domingo			X
So Paulo			(1)
Sao Tome		X
Sapporo			(1)
Sarajevo			X
Seoul			X
Shanghai			(1)
Shenyang			(1)
Singapore			X
Skopje			X
Sofia			X
Stockholm			X
St. Georges		X
St. Petersburg		X
Strasbourg (APP)			(1)
Surabaya			(1)
Suva		X
Sydney			X
Taipei			X
Tallinn			X
Tashkent		X
Tbilisi			X
Tegucigalpa			X
Tel Aviv			X
The Hague			X
Thessaloniki			(1)
Tijuana					X
Tirana			X
Tokyo			X
Toronto					X
Toulouse (APP)			(1)
Tripoli		X
Tunis			X
Ulaanbaatar			(1)
Valletta		X
Vancouver					X
Vatican City			(1)
Vienna			X
Vientiane	(1)
Vilnius			X
Vladivostok		X
Warsaw			X
Wellington			X
Windhoek		X
Winnipeg (APP)				X
Wuhan			(1)
Yaound		X
Yekaterinburg		X
Yerevan		X
Yokohama	X
Zagreb			X
U.S. Missions
FODAG Rome			(1)
UNVIE Vienna			(1)
USAU Addis Ababa		X
USEU Brussels			(1)
US ICAO Montreal					X
USNATO Brussels	X
US OECD Paris			(1)
US OSCE Vienna			(1)
US UNEP Nairobi			(1)
US UNESCO Paris			(1)
US UN New York					X

 

(1) Denotes downstream customer serviced by another DPO or MPS (APO/FPO) and operating in accordance with respective upstream regulations.

UNCLASSIFIED (U)