Military post offices to stop accepting handwritten customs forms

Story by Mark Heeter, Installation Management Command – Europe

WIESBADEN, Germany —A significant change to how military postal customers overseas may mail packages internationally is coming soon.Clerks at military post offices, including those in Europe, will soon be unable to accept handwritten customs declaration forms, according to a recent U.S. Postal Service internal bulletin.

The change is scheduled to take effect during the month of March, however officials are working to delay the onset of this change overseas, but “customers should be prepared to start using the new forms as early as mid March,” said Bill Hilsher, chief of postal plans and policy at U.S. Army Europe.

Customers will be required to use PS Form 2976-R, USPS Customs Declaration and Dispatch Note.  Once the change goes into effect, all other editions of the Customs Declaration and Dispatch Note will be obsolete and removed from post offices.

“There will still be an option to fill out a customs information worksheet, which will then be typed into the retail system software by the postal clerk,” Hilsher said. However, this option could cause longer wait times at the retail windows. Customers can go online to fill out and print the correct form at home or fill it out at computer-equipped kiosks that will be available at the military post offices

“We ask for customers’ patience and understanding if the policy change causes longer wait times at the counters. We will continue to do everything we can to support their needs as we implement this new policy,” said Chuck Sharpe, program manager for the postal operations branch at IMCOM-Europe.

Customers should address questions to their local military post office.

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