WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – US President Donald Trump has decided to withdraw the United States from the United Nations postal agency – Universal Postal Union (UPU) – after the Department of State determined in a report a lack of progress of the UPU reforms, the White House said in a news release on Wednesday.
“The President concurs with the Department of State’s recommendation to adopt self-declared rates for terminal dues as soon as practical and no later than January 1, 2020,” White House Press spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in the release. “The Department of State will also file notice that the United States will withdraw from the UPU.”
The State Department report revealed insufficient reforms in the UPU in line with the US policies outlined in Trump’s memorandum in August.
Sanders explained that the United States will try to negotiate multilateral agreements to resolve the issues detailed in August memorandum during the yearlong withdrawal period outlined in the UPU Constitution.
Should the negotiations prove successful, the Trump administration is prepared to rescind the notice of withdrawal and remain in the UPU, Sanders added.
On August 24, Trump issued a memorandum calling for the modernization of the UPU’s monetary reimbursement model and for enhancements to the security and safety of international mail.
The UPU was founded in 1874 and has 192 member states.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
