OREANDA-NEWS. July 4, 2007. The speech of Gene Del Polito, President of USA Association for Postal Commerce at the Session "Future is evolution. Strategic choice or natural development of the sector" within the framework of the Strategic Forum "Pochtovaya Troika – 2007" was devoted to the problem of liberalization of postal regulation in accordance with new demands of postal service market.

Liberalization of postal regulation and corresponding changes in tariff policy promotes postal sector development, though have a set of other difficulties.

Recently the world experience shows many cases of reduction of volumes of postal items from customers and dramatic demand for traditional postal services from corporate clients. The latter can be connected with the explosion of direct-marketing.

Under new conditions post can focus on increasing its profitability that partly solves the problem of higher salary and perform its social function at the same time (labor costs account up to 78 % of the total expenses of postal operator).

As to USA experience, profitability restrictions will deprive the employees of stimulus to higher competitiveness and public services quality improvement.

New USA postal regulatory document is to solve the problem. It gives postal operator free discretion including setting of tariffs for postal services. Thus postal sector should become not only free-standing, but profitable one.

At the same time there is a problem to explain the tariff rates: people should understand what services, for what prices and of what quality they should get at post.

Due to this new standards of quality service estimation are implemented at post. Though these standards leave much to be desired they represent compromise variant. Now post that has been state bureaucratic structure turns to dynamic competitive enterprise that satisfies customers’ demands.