Brief History

Organisation

Member Countries

Staff

Brief History

The idea of a restricted union in this part of the world came up first in the late 1950s.  In order to give a concrete shape to the idea, after informal discussions, the Philippines government sent through diplomatic channels invitations to 18 countries for a roundtable in Manila on 10 – 23 January 1961. Among the countries invited were Afghanistan, Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.  The roundtable drew up the Asian-Oceanic Postal Convention.

The convention was to come into force on 1 April 1962. On that date, they formed a union among themselves and established its headquarters in Manila with Mr. Palomar, Postmaster General of Philippines as its first Director. The headquarters was relocated to Bangkok in 2002.

In due course others countries of the Asian-Pacific region joined this regional postal union making it today an inter-governmental body of 32 countries namely; Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Korea, Lao, Malaysia, Mongolia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samao, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Thailand, Tonga, Vanuatu and Vietna

Organisation

The Congress, the Executive Council and the Bureau are the three organs of the Union. The main functions of these three organs are:  

1)  Congress

The Congress is the supreme organ of the Union and composed of representatives of member countries. The representatives of the member countries of the Union meet in Congress not later than two years after holding of each Universal Postal Congress in order to revise the Acts of the Union, if necessary, and to consider, as necessary, other postal problems of common interest to the member countries.

2)   Executive Council

The Executive Council (EC) comprises all the member-countries of the Union with a quorum of the majority. To ensure the continuity of the work of the Union in the intervals between Congresses, the Executive Council meets in principle once each year. The functions of the Executive Council are:

        (a) To perform any duty assigned to it by a Resolution of the   Congress;

 (b) To lay down the international postal service rules which shall provide for details necessary for the operation of the international postal service between the member-countries;

 (c) To maintain contacts with postal administration of the member- countries of the Union with a view to improving the postal service;

 (d) To prescribe rules for the administration of the Bureau and to supervise the activities of the Bureau;

 (e) To review and approve the annual budget and accounts of the administrative section prepared by the Bureau in the intervals between Congresses;

 (f)  To make useful contacts with the various organs of the Universal Postal Union, with the Restricted Unions or with other specialized agencies of the United Nations with special interests in the area and, if necessary, to appoint representatives to conference of such organizations;

 (g) To conclude agreements on behalf of the Union with the Universal Postal Union and other Restricted Unions and international organizations with regard to such matters as technical co-operation with the concurrence of at least two-thirds of the members of the Union. The Council may authorize the Director of the Bureau to execute such agreements;

 (h) To assemble, prior to each Universal Postal Congress, in order to exchange and harmonize their views; and

 (i)  To make necessary steps, with the agreement of the majority of the members of Union, provisionally to carry out such other administrative acts which are not covered by the Acts of the Union and cannot await the next Congress for the settlement.

Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Executive Council are elected by the first Executive Council meeting convened immediately after the holding of the Congress at the same venue. In the normal course the chairmanship shall devolve by right on the host country of Congress. The present officers (elected after the Kiwi Congress in 2009) are New Zealand as Chairman and Indonesia as Vice-Chairman.

3) Bureau

The Bureau serves as a medium of liaison, information, inquiry and training for the member-countries of the Union. The Bureau is composed of the administrative section and the training section. The Bureau is composed of a Director and such other staff as the Union may require.  The Bureau provides the secretariat for meetings of the Union, jointly with the postal administration of the country where each meeting is held.  The Bureau is under the general supervision of the Executive Council. 

The Bureau provides training facilities and advisory services in the training section to improve postal services within Asia and the Pacific. This training section is administered by a Governing Board, chaired by the head of the host administration of the Bureau (Thailand).The Governing Board meets at least once each year in the country where the Executive council will hold its meeting. The training section of the Bureau is known as the Asian-Pacific Postal College.

Director of APPU Bureau is chosen, from among qualified postal officials, by the Executive Council or in Congress year by Congress. The tenure of office is fixed by the body which selects the Director.

The Director of APPU Bureau is its legal representative in all functions performed by the Bureau pursuant to the Acts of the Union and to the decision of Congress of the Union. The Director represents the Union in the international conferences regarding postal service where representation of the Union is required.

Member Countries

} Afghanistan	} Australia	} Bangladesh
} Bhutan	} Brunei Darussalam	} Cambodia
} China	} Fiji	} India
} Indonesia	} Iran	} Japan
} Lao	} Korea, Republic of	} Malaysia
} Maldives	} Mongolia	} Myanmar
} Nauru	} Nepal	} New Zealand
} Pakistan	} Papua New Guinea	} Philippines
} Samoa	} Singapore	} Solomon Islands
} Sri Lanka	} Thailand	} Tonga
} Vanuatu	} Vietnam

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Asian-Pacific Postal Union Bureau

PO Box 1, Laksi Post Office

111 Chaeng Wattana Road, Bangkok - 10210 Thailand

Tel: +66-2-573 7282     Fax: +66 -2-573 1161    

 E-mail: admin@appu-bureau.org

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