§ Mr. John Marshallasked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assurances the Post Office has (a) sought and (b) received about the delivery of mail in the Soviet Union; and what steps it takes to monitor their implementation.
§ Mr. ButcherInternational postal operations are governed by the provisions of the Universal Postal Union convention, to which both the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom are signatories. The UPU convention makes provision for the prohibition of the importation of articles whose importation and circulation is prohibited in the country of destination. The precise internal regulations under which Soviet customs or postal officials operate in210W confiscating items are not publicly available. But the Soviet notification to the UPU of prohibited articles is so widely drawn as to allow the Soviet authorities, in theory, to refuse entry or to confiscate items we would consider innocuous. We find this situation far from satisfactory.
The Soviet authorities are well aware of our views, which we have made known to them on a number of occasions. As I said in my reply to a question from my hon. Friend on 21 October, at columns 811–12, we have raised the matter at the CSCE follow-up meeting currently taking place in Vienna.
I understand that most mail to the Soviet Union is registered, and all registered items are individually listed before dispatch. It is therefore always possible to check whether a particular letter has been forwarded. The Post Office sets inquiries in train with the Soviet postal authorities as necessary about the non-delivery of specific items.