The Postal Service has issued a new Customer Support Ruling (CSR), PS-321, and a revised CSR, PS-275, to aid mailers in understanding revised postal standards that go into effect June 1, 2005 (see Postal Bulletin 22142, dated 11-25-04), about the use of “personal information” in Standard Mail matter.

Both CSRs are being issued now, in advance of the effective date, to help customers in planning and making decisions about what may be mailed as Standard Mail and what must be mailed as First-Class Mail. Specifically, these CSRs provide examples where a decision is made about whether the presence of personal information in a mailing meets the test established by revised Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) E610.3.1 for including personal information in Standard Mail.

Because both CSRs are written on the basis of the revised DMM language effective June 1, 2005, they contain links to the Federal Register of October 27, 2004 (69 FR 62578-62583), which announced the revised regulations. Currently, when readers click on the links to the DMM language in the CSRs, they access the Federal Register notice. After June 1, the CSRs will be revised to link to then-current postal standards.