With the Christmas holidays so close, it is especially useful for customers to note that they must carefully prepare all mail, as this allows the postal service to fulfil its mandate for speedy, safe mail delivery. Please make note of these tips on how mail should be prepared to prevent mail dispatch problems.

Letters and Other Documents

If you're only sending a letter, this can be sent in standard paper envelopes. Items such as photographs and certificates that need protection from bending must be sent in an appropriate package such as bubble-lined, padded (paper or waterproof) envelopes, with a piece of plywood to ensure rigidity.

Use Sturdy Boxes

Sturdy cardboard boxes may be sufficient for items weighing up to 4 kg (9 lb). Heavier packages require heavy-duty corrugated fibreboard, with the bottom being both glued and taped. When a box is reused, wrap it with plain brown paper and obliterate branding and markings with a heavy black marker or self-adhesive labels.

Fragile Items

Boxes must have room to allow for cushioning materials around the contents. Newspaper, foam 'peanuts', bubble wrap, or shredded paper are suitable cushioning for fragile items. Write the word 'FRAGILE' on each side of the package and the top must be clearly indicated by writing 'TOP', as well as drawing an arrow along each side with the point to the top.

Sealing Boxes

Make sure to 'tape up' the opening of the box and reinforce all seams with two-inch wide tape. It is recommended that you use grey reinforced packaging tape (duct tape) or brown packaging tape for this purpose.

Customer Requirements

When sending or receiving registered letters and express mail service (EMS) items, one of these forms of identification MUST be presented to the customer service representative at the post office:

Passport

Driver's licence

National ID.

For customers sending: You MUST complete the form provided by the post office to declare contents.

Registered Mail

It's so easy and cost-effective to ensure peace of mind, yet so many customers do not register their very important mail. Remember that ordinary mail is impossible to trace, so for important items such as a birth certificate or cheque, please have it registered.

Minimum Envelope Size

As we are on the issue of registered mail, note that it is now necessary to use an envelope that measures a minimum of 9 ¹/² inches (23cm) by 4 inches (10.2cm) due to the recent adoption of a bar-coded label for registered letters destined overseas. This means that the address needs to be in the centre of an envelope in order to allow enough space for the bar-coded label.

Please refer to the image of a sample envelope that appears with this article to get a better picture of how to prepare such mail item.

A return address is to be clearly indicated on the front of the package in the upper left corner, but as some persons' handwriting is larger than others, if you do not think that it will fit on the front, then write it on the back of the envelope.

For further details or clarification, please contact your nearest post office or email postcorp_admin@colis.com.