The Universal Postal Union (UPU), referred to as the UPU or the UPU, is an intergovernmental international organization that negotiates international postal affairs. Its predecessor was the General Postal Union established on October 9, 1874, and changed its name to its current name in 1878. The organization became a specialized agency of the United Nations on international postal affairs on July 1, 1978, with its headquarters in Bern, the capital of Switzerland.
Historical evolution
The postal service has appeared in ancient times. In the 16th century, the postal service transcended national boundaries and international postal services emerged. By the 18th century, the postal service finally became a public institution and gradually developed into a modern postal service.
Initially, according to the special needs of each country, bilateral agreements were signed between countries to exchange international mail. The postage varied greatly, the currencies used for pricing were numerous, and the weight units and grades based on them were different, which complicated the business work and hindered the development of the postal service. The emergence of steamships and railways has further developed the postal service. Postal authorities of various countries realized that in order to speed up the exchange of international mail and keep up with the pace of development of transportation tools, the exchange procedures should be simplified, especially the rates should be reduced and standardized. In 1840, Britain unified domestic letter rates based on the proposal of Roland Hill, and stamps were born.
In 1862, Montgomery Blair, the US Postmaster General, proposed to hold the first international conference. The conference was held in Paris on May 11, 1863, and representatives from 15 European and American countries attended. The conference adopted some general principles for reference by postal authorities of various countries when signing postal conventions with postal authorities of other countries.
However, it should be pointed out that improving postal services by implementing unified principles within the scope of bilateral agreements can no longer meet the growing needs caused by the rapid development of international relations.
In 1868, Henry de Stefan, a senior official of the North German Federal Postal Department, proposed the idea of establishing a postal union. He suggested that the government submit the draft to a conference of plenipotentiaries for discussion.
On September 15, 1874, at the invitation of the Swiss government, a meeting was held in Bern, the capital of Switzerland. 22 countries sent plenipotentiary representatives to attend the meeting: Germany, Austria, Gambia, Belgium, Denmark, Egypt, Spain, the United States, France, Britain, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey.
At the end of the conference, the delegates signed the Treaty on the Creation of the General Postal Union, also known as the Berne Treaty. According to the treaty, the “General Postal Union” was established and the first international postal service collective convention was approved. The convention came into effect on July 1, 1875. Three years later, since many countries have participated since the implementation of the Berne Treaty, the General Postal Union held its second congress in Paris and changed the “General Postal Union” to the “Universal Postal Union”.