Singapore Post has stamped its authority on mail deliveries in the island state, forcing the British Post Office to stop bypassing its official service.
The national postal authorities became enveloped in a row when the British Post Office began using its subsidiary Citipost Express for Singapore deliveries.
The British move may have been within the letter of the law, but certainly not within the spirit, argued Singapore Post.
"We have taken this matter up with the British Post Office," Janine Mathieu, Singapore Post's senior manager, corporate communications, said in a letter published in the Straits Times on Thursday.
"They, understanding our situation, have agreed to cease sending mail to Singapore through channels other than the local authorized postal service by early this month."
British Post Office spokesman Dan Taylor told the newspaper that "cost-effectiveness or better delivery performance" were among the reasons for avoiding national postal services.
"When we use our own companies, we have better end-to-end control of our mail," he said.
Taylor confirmed the British Post Office had stopped using Citipost Express for Singapore mail, but denied they had violated any regulations.
Citipost Express is only licensed to deliver express mail, printed papers and parcels in Singapore.
The Info-communications Development Authority, Singapore's mail watchdog, said its definition of "express" was any mail delivered within one working day of being received by the local agent -- SINGAPORE (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
