What's New in the Domestic Mail Manual?
The online DMM is updated monthly on Postal Explorer at http://pe.usps.gov.

Mailable items include:
• Fresh foods (e.g., fruits, vegetables, eggs).
• Meats and meat products.
• Plants.
• Certain live animals (e.g., bees, day-old poultry, adult fowl)
• Certain harmless cold-blooded animals (e.g., frogs, lizards, topical fish, worms).
• Certain dead animals (e.g., game birds, fish).
• Certain parts of dead animals (e.g., dried furs, hides, skins, pelts).

Nonmailable items include:
• Live birds not listed in DMM C020 as mailable (e.g., canaries, cockatiels, emus, finches, parakeets, parrots).
• Warm-blooded animals (e.g., cats, dogs, hamsters, mice, rabbits, squirrels).
• All snakes, turtles, and poisonous reptiles.
• Poisonous insects and all spiders (except scorpions).

Any container used to send perishable items must be constructed to protect and securely hold the contents during Postal Service handling. The packaging requirements in DMM C010 must be met. Containers must be sturdy and secure enough to withstand normal processing.

Mailers must plainly and durably mark the contents of a perishable mailpiece on the address side as a condition of mailing. The name and address of both the mailer and the addressee must be affixed to the outside using a material or method that is not water-soluble, easily rubbed off, or smeared.

See DMM C022 and section 5, Pub of 52, Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Mail.

Mailability of Perfume and Similar Products

Perfume, cologne, and similar products typically contain alcohol or other flammable liquids. DMM C023.4.0 provides mailability standards for flammable liquids. The mailer is responsible for determining if a material is mailable based on flashpoint and quantity of the flammable liquid. The mailer may obtain information regarding the flashpoint by requesting a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) from the product manufacturer. Many manufacturers of perfume, cologne, and similar products provide contact information online or on their packaging.

Flammable liquids are not mailable internationally or to, from, or between overseas military post offices (APO/FPOs). This information is published in DMM C023.4.2, E010.2.1, and section 621.4 of Pub. 52, Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Mail.

If the flashpoint of the material is 20o F or below, the material is not mailable under DMM C023.4.2.

If the flashpoint is between 21^o F and 200^o F — and the material does not have any other hazardous components — the material may be mailed via domestic surface mail (e.g., Parcel Post) if properly packaged and marked under DMM C023.4.2. and/or 4.3. The mailer — not postal personnel — must place the marking on the address side of the mailpiece. The marking is not required to be in the form of a sticker or label and may be handwritten, as long as the marking is legible and durable. The proper marking for a mailable flammable liquid is:

Consumer Commodity
ORM-D
Surface Mail Only

If the flashpoint is above 200^o F, the material is not regulated as a hazardous material. However, it must be properly packaged to prevent leakage, as described in DMM C010.2.4.

Nonmachinable Surcharge for Shrubs, Trees, and Other Nursery Stock

Each spring, Postal Service personnel have to determine whether to assess a nonmachinable surcharge for shrubs, trees, and other nursery stock placed in the mailstream. We offer the following information for clarification and to promote consistency.

The nonmachinable surcharge in DMM R700 applies to Parcel Post mailpieces that cannot be processed mechanically and require more costly manual sortation. The Postal Service assesses a nonmachinable surcharge for a Parcel Post item that does not meet the machinable criteria in DMM C050.4.0 or that meets the nonmachinable criteria in DMM C700.2.0.

•DMM C050.4.0 defines a machinable parcel, in part, as follows (see the DMM for more details):

• DMM C700.2.0a-j lists nonmachinable criteria for Parcel Post, including the following: "j. Parcels with characteristics (such as inadequate packaging) that could result in damage to the contents of the mailpiece, other parcels, or postal machinery if mechanical sortation is used."

Based on the requirements in DMM C050.4.0 and C700.2.0, use the following guidelines to determine whether to assess a nonmachinable surcharge for shrubs, trees, and other nursery stock items:
• Assess a nonmachinable surcharge if an item does not meet the machinable criteria in DMM C050.4 or if an item meets any of the nonmachinable criteria in DMM C700.2 - for example, nursery stock being mailed with inadequate packaging, such as plastic, vinyl, or paper bags (sealed or unsealed).
• Don't assess a nonmachinable surcharge if an item meets either one of the following criteria:

1. The item meets the machinable criteria in DMM C050.4 and is mailed completely enclosed in a box or carton that constitutes adequate packaging.

2. The item is mailed as follows:

- At Express Mail or Priority Mail rates.
- At oversized rates.
- With special handling service.
- At the following Parcel Select discount rates:

• Destination sectional center facility (DSCF) discount rates sorted to 5-digit containers.
• Destination delivery unit (DDU) discount rates.

Customer Support Rulings

The Mailing Standards office is issuing a series of new and revised Customer Support Rulings (CSRs) that will assist in understanding the revised DMM standards for Standard Mail eligibility that go into effect June 1, 2005. The CSRs will provide clear examples, such as whether a Standard Mail mailing meets the test for including personal information. Because the new/revised CSRs are written on the basis of the revised DMM language (effective June 1, 2005), the information is not yet published in the DMM, but is available in the November 25, 2004, Postal Bulletin. CSRs are available online via Postal Explorer at http://pe.usps.com.

New PS-317 Customer Markings - Clarifies the current rule on envelope markings that say "Personal," "Open Immediately," and so forth. Effective December 2004.

Revised PS-238 Renewal Notices - Several mailers have recently requested this specific clarification concerning subscription renewal notices to Periodical publications.
This CSR clarifies that what is being advertised must relate to the personal information in the mailing. Because concerned mailers are also asking what effect the June 1 rule will have on such renewal notices, if any, the CSR will address eligibility under both current and mid-summer rules. Effective December 2004.

New PS-318 Advertising for Services - Determined to be eligible for Standard Mail rates. This CSR provides a clear example of an advertisement being "explicit," the personal information being "related" to the advertisement, and the "exclusive purpose" of the use of the personal information to support the advertisement. Effective June 1, 2005.

New PS-026 Pay to Bearer Checks - Carries forward the lesson of PS-026 with regard to checks eligible to be mailed as Standard Mail. Effective January 2005.

New PS-319 Checks - Addresses checks that must be mailed as First-Class Mail. Effective January 2005.

New PS-320 Hybrid Coupon/Checks - Addresses what has become known as "hybrid coupon checks" that may or may not be eligible as Standard Mail. Effective January 2005.

Coming in February 2005

Revised PS-275 Points Programs - Determined to be eligible for Standard Mail rates. Updates previous "frequent flyer" CSR. Effective June 1, 2005.

New PS-321 Annual Mailings by Credit Card Issuers - Determined to be ineligible for Standard Mail rates. Effective June 1, 2005.

The following CSRs are rescinded effective January 2005, given the current Standard Mail eligibility issues.

• CSR PS-30 E.E.G. Tracings.
• CSR PS-38 Seismographic Recordings.
• CSR PS-113 Fingerprint Charts.
• CSR PS-224 X-Rays.