Meeting Workgroup 127 Telecom 12/9/2008
Frank provided USPS definition for mail owner by Bob Gallaher.
Mail Owner is person responsible for payment of postage and for which the mail piece was designed and benefit received.
The group decided to create a one page definition list that would be used to clarify the exact roles of each party.
Frank also indicated that Move Update compliance with be checked in two different environments, those with MERLIN machines and those without. While the method for acceptance areas without MERLIN have not been defined Frank thinks the method will be manual where addresses will be selected at random and entered into the computer for matching against the USPS database.
Ellenor Kirkconnell indicated she was on the workgroup 75 that created the original 6014 and is trying to contact Pat Imes to see if any documentation from that workgroup still exists.
There was discussion regarding how Move Update compliance will be applied to Presort mailers and the commingling process. Nathan Polete indicated that they do have the capability to drill down into individual customers if compliance issues are caused by one particular mail owner within a commingled mailing. It also was pointed out that if non compliance is found after acceptance being able to determine the one customer within a commingled project may be more difficult to determine. It was suggested there be a separate 6014 form for commingle jobs. The discussion of how the USPS will enforce commingle compliance may be beyond the scope of this workgroup.
Some in the group thought the one year time limit was too long for the 6014 to be valid and one should be signed for each event. For some having a client sign a 6014 for each event is not practical. Others thought the 6014 should have line items that can be used to match specific mail events to a specific 6014.
There also was discussion on whether the 6014 was a USPS mandatory document. While it is determined that it is not a required document it would be good business practice for mail preparers that do not have any role in the mail owner’s compliance to have one on file to help shift the compliance burden from them to another party.
Jim Bower had asked if in the case that a client calls to reorder an item and the mail owner asks and confirms the client address on record has not changed if that address is now considered a newly acquired address and is therefore exempt from Move Update.
This was an issue that would have to be determined by the USPS and is out of scope of the workgroup.
It was suggested by Rose Flanagan that an issues worksheet be created to record all issues and then the group could discuss and resolve each issue. Rose will create and distribute the issue template and each member could add to the issue list and then send it back to Steve.
This list would be sent to members with this telecom’s minutes and would serve as the agenda for the next meeting.