# What the UPDATED USPS Act Actually Does

This bill tightens security screening for packages coming into the United States through the mail system, particularly international shipments. Right now, the Postal Service and customs officials have various loopholes and exemptions that allow some packages to skip detailed inspection. This bill closes those gaps by requiring the Postal Service to provide detailed information about every international package before it arrives, and it prevents customs from making exceptions for certain countries or types of shipments.

The practical effect is that starting in 2024, any international mail package that doesn't come with complete advance information will be refused entry into the country. This means if you're expecting a package from overseas, it needs to have all its details submitted electronically to U.S. Customs and Border Protection before it even lands. The Postal Service will also have to start publishing reports every month showing how many packages they couldn't provide information for, making the process more transparent and harder to ignore.

The bill also requires the government to publish detailed monthly reports tracking international mail volumes, how many packages customs actually inspects, what gets seized, and which countries are sending the most mail. This gives Congress and the public visibility into what's actually coming through the mail system. For most everyday people, this probably won't change much—your normal online purchases from abroad should still arrive fine as long as sellers properly document them. But it does make it harder for problematic items to slip through undetected, and it creates accountability by forcing the Postal Service to publicly report when they're not following the rules.

UPDATED USPS Act

Ezell, Mike

Uniform Postal Data Acquisition for Transparency and Early Detection within the United States Postal Service Act or the UPDATED USPS Act This bill modifies requirements relating to advance electronic information for cargo. Specifically, the bill eliminates <ul> <li>a restriction on the use of advance electronic information for commercial enforcement, and</li> <li>waivers of the requirement to transmit advance electronic information for countries.</li> </ul> U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) must refuse entry for any international mail shipments for which advance electronic information is not transmitted for shipments received after December 31, 2023. By December 31, 2023, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) must arrange for the transmission to CBP of information for all international mail shipments. The USPS, at least every 30 days, must publish the number of such shipments for which the information was not transmitted to CBP during the preceding 30-day period. The bill requires monthly reports of specified information, including the volume of international mail shipments and other cargo received by the USPS and private sector importers for which advance electronic information is submitted.