British Postal Agencies (Commonwealth and Foreign Post) Warrant, 1953

JurisdictionUK Non-devolved
CitationSI 1953/1733
Year1953

1953 No. 1733

The British Postal Agencies (Commonwealth and Foreign Post) Warrant, 1953

27thNovember 1953

1stDecember 1953

1stJanuary 1954

ARRANGEMENT OF REGULATIONS

PART I

Interpretation and application

1. Interpretation.

2. Application.

PART II

Rates of postage

3. Letters and postcards.

4. Packets posted at Tetuan.

5. Reduced rate printed packets.

6. Other printed packets, commercial packets, sample packets and small packets.

7. Literature for the blind.

8. Insured boxes.

9. Articles grouped together in one packet.

10. Air mail packets.

11. Bulk postage.

PART III

General conditions

12. Prohibitions.

13. Contents of certain packets.

14. Packing.

15. Limits of weight and size.

16. Articles liable to duty.

17. Payment of postage and fees.

18. Unpaid or underpaid postage.

19. Treatment of irregular packets.

20. Undeliverable packets.

PART IV

Conditions relating to particular classes of packets

21. Postcards.

22. Printed packets.

23. Despatch of certain printed packets.

24. Commercial packets.

25. Sample packets.

26. Small packets.

27. Literature for the blind.

28. Air mail packets.

PART V

Postal facilities

29. Late fee packets.

30. Express delivery.

31. Transmission in bulk.

32. Redirection.

33. Certificate of posting.

PART VI

Registration and Insurance

34. Registration.

35. Registration.

36. Advice of delivery.

37. Compensation for registered packets.

38. Compulsory registration.

39. Insured letters.

40. Compensation for insured letters.

41. Insured boxes.

42. Compensation—general.

PART VII

General

43. Postage, fees and payments in local currencies.

44. Priority of letter post.

45. Remission of postage and fees.

46. Short title and commencement.

We, the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, in exercise of all powers given to us by sections 5, 8, 11, 15 and 81 of the Post Office Act 1953(a) and of all other powers enabling us in this behalf, do, by this Warrant, made on the representation of Her Majesty's Postmaster-General (testified by his signing the same), and under the hands of two of us the said Commissioners, order, direct, and declare as follows:—

PART I.—INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION

Interpretation

1.—(1) In this Warrant, except so far as the contrary is provided or the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them:

"the Act" means the Post Office Act 1953;

"air letter" means a letter written on a special form and transmitted to the country or place of destination through the whole or part of its course in the post by an air mail service;

"air mail packet" means an outgoing postal packet conveyed or intended to be conveyed at the request of the sender through any part of its course in the post by an air mail service;

"air mail service" means a service established by or under the direction of the Postmaster-General for the conveyance of mails by air;

"coin" means coin (whether or not current), except such as is used or designed for purposes of ornament;

"commercial packet" has the meaning assigned to it by regulation twenty-four;

"Commonwealth country" includes any of the territories referred to in Part 1 of the Second Schedule hereto;

"gold bullion" means uncoined and unmanufactured gold;

"incoming" applied to a postal packet of any description means received at a British Postal agency through the post;

"insured letter" and "insured box" mean respectively any insured letter and insured box which is for the time being transmissible under the provisions of the Universal Postal Union Agreement for the exchange of insured letters and boxes for the time being in force, and the detailed Regulations made thereunder;

"letter" includes any communication in the nature of current and personal correspondence, and also includes a packet transmitted at the letter rate of postage and containing goods or articles of merchandise;

"literature for the blind" means—

(i) books or papers (including letters to or from blind persons) impressed or otherwise prepared for the use of the blind;

(ii) plates bearing the characters of writing used for the blind;

(iii) voice records and special paper intended solely for the use of the blind provided that they are sent by or addressed to an officially recognised institute for the blind;

"member of the armed forces of the United Kingdom or of any other Commonwealth country" and "member of the armed forces of any State allied with the United Kingdom" include a member of any auxiliary service of such respective forces;

(a) 1 & 2 Eliz. 2. c. 36.

"Morocco Agencies" means the British postal agencies at Tangier and Tetuan;

"outgoing" applied to a postal packet of any description means posted in a British postal agency;

"parcel" means a postal packet which is posted in a British postal agency as a parcel in accordance with the provisions of the British Commonwealth and Foreign Parcel Post Warrant 1950(a) or any Warrant amending or replacing the same, or is received at a British postal agency from any other place by parcel post;

"Persian Gulf Agencies" means the British postal agencies in the Persian Gulf (Bahrain, Doha, Dubai including Sharja, Kuwait and Muscat);

"Phonopost packet" means an incoming postal packet containing a recorded spoken message, being a packet recognized as a Phonopost packet in accordance with the terms of the Universal Postal Convention for the time being in force;

"the postal agency at Tangier" and "the postal agency at Tetuan" mean the British postal agencies at those respective places;

"postal form" means a form issued by or under the authority of the Postmaster-General;

"postal packet" means and includes (except where otherwise expressed) a letter, postcard, printed packet, commercial packet, sample packet, small packet, packet consisting of literature for the blind, insured box, Phonopost packet, and a packet to which paragraph (1) of regulation nine applies, but does not include a telegram or (except in the foregoing definition of "parcel") a parcel;

"postcard" means a card recognised as a postcard in accordance with the terms of the Universal Postal Convention for the time being in force, and includes (except where otherwise expressed) a reply postcard;

"prescribed" means prescribed by the Postmaster-General;

"printed packet" has the meaning assigned to it by regulation twenty-two;

"reply postcard" means a postcard in two parts, one part (or where regulation twenty-one of this Warrant so allows, both parts) of which may without further payment be again transmitted through the post;

"sample packet" has the meaning assigned to it by regulation twenty-five;

"small packet" has the meaning assigned to it by regulation twenty-six; and other expressions have the same meanings as they have in the Act.

(2) The Interpretation Act, 1889(b), applies to the interpretation of this Warrant as it applies to the interpretation of an Act of Parliament.

Application

2. The provisions of this Warrant shall apply exclusively to postal packets transmitted by post in either direction between a British postal agency and any other place.

(a) S.I. 1950/1200; 1950 II, p. 367.

(b) 52 & 53 Vict. c. 63.

PART II.—RATES OF POSTAGE

Letters and Postcards

3.—(1) The rates of postage specified in Part 1 of the First Schedule hereto shall be charged and paid on letters and postcards:—

(i) posted in a Persian Gulf Agency for transmission to another Persian Gulf Agency, or to the Pakistan postal agency at Gwadur;

(ii) posted in the postal agency at Kuwait for transmission to Iraq.

(2) The rates of postage specified in Part 2 of the First Schedule hereto shall be charged and paid on letters and postcards posted in the postal agency at Tangier for transmission to the postal agency at Tetuan.

(3) Subject to paragraphs (1) and (2) of this regulation, the rates of postage specified in Part 3 of the First Schedule hereto shall be charged and paid on outgoing letters and postcards:—

(i) posted in a Persian Gulf Agency or the postal agency at Tangier for transmission to any of the countries or places specified in the Second Schedule hereto, or to the Republic of Ireland;

(ii) posted in the postal agency at Tangier:—

(a) for transmission in closed mails to a person on board a ship of the Royal Navy (whether on the high seas or in any port or place outside the British postal area), or

(b) for transmission to a member of the armed forces of the United Kingdom or of any other Commonwealth country serving outside the British postal area, or a member of the armed forces of any State allied with the United Kingdom serving outside the British postal area with the armed forces of the United Kingdom or of any other Commonwealth country, being transmission through a British Forces' Post Office, or a civilian Postal Administration in any foreign country which has agreed to deliver without surcharge letters and postcards at the said rates.

(4) The rates of postage specified in Part 4 of the First Schedule hereto shall be charged and paid on all other outgoing letters and postcards posted in a Persian Gulf Agency or the postal agency at Tangier.

Packets posted at Tetuan

4.—(1) The rates of postage specified in Part 3 of the First Schedule hereto shall be charged and paid on outgoing letters and postcards posted in the postal agency at Tetuan for transmission to the British postal area.

(2) On all other outgoing postal packets (except air mail packets) posted in the postal agency at Tetuan there shall be charged and paid such rates of postage as may be fixed from time to time for the transmission by post of similar postal packets by the Postal Administration of the Spanish Zone of Morocco.

Reduced rate printed packets

5.—(1) The rates of postage specified in item 1 of Part 1 of the Third Schedule hereto shall be charged and paid on outgoing printed packets to which this regulation applies which are posted in a Persian Gulf Agency or in the postal agency at Tangier.

(2) Subject as hereinafter mentioned this regulation applies to:—

(a)...

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