	Statement

Chairman Stevens, Chairman McHugh, and Members of the Subcommittees: We appreciate the opportunity to participate in this hearing on how the reform experiences of other countries’ postal administrations may relate to ideas and proposals for reform of the U.S. Postal Service to provide uniform service to all communities in an increasingly competitive postal environment, as well as on issues involving the postal monopoly and postal rate setting in this country. While we believe that the overall experiences of other countries’ postal administrations are relevant to the current discussions of postal reform in the United States, meaningful comparisons of the specific operational practices followed and performance results can be difficult. Postal Service has at least seven times the mail volume, and at least twice the number of employees. Postal Service’s mail volume and about 6 percent of its number of employees. Major change has occurred more recently for some foreign postal administrations. Universal Service Remains a Common Goal Among Other Postal Administrations

The primary mission of the U.S. Any consideration of reforming the U.S. However, the definition of universal mail service varies somewhat from country to country. The U.S. Except for the French postal administration, all of the eight foreign postal administrations have some form of franchising policy for postal retail services. These include, but are not limited to, the quality of the Postal Service’s labor relations.
Why GAO Did This Study

GAO discussed other countries' postal service reform efforts and how their experiences may relate to U.S. Postal Service reform.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) the U.S Postal Service handles over seven times the mail volume and has at least twice as many employees as the 8 foreign countries reviewed; (2) increased competition from private delivery and communications networks has caused changes in U.S. postal law to allow more competitive flexibility; (3) the 8 foreign governments have reduced their control over their postal administration's day-to-day practices, which has led to improved service and financial performance for some of them; (4) universal mail service remains a common goal among these administrations, but their definition of it varies; (5) unlike the United States, 7 of the countries have franchising policies for postal retail services; (6) all of the countries provide certain subsidized mail services; (7) all of the countries except Sweden have postal monopolies, which vary widely in definition and scope; (8) some foreign countries have given their postal administrations greater freedom to set postal rates; (9) the overall experience of other countries' postal administrations are relevant to any U.S. postal reforms; and (10) any reform initiative must consider the quality of the Postal Service's labor relations.