· Area of Law： Post and Telecommunications

· Level of Authority： Group Provisions

· Date issued：11-04-2008

· Effective Date：12-15-2008

· Status： Effective

· Issuing Authority： Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits

Cross-strait Postal Service Agreement
(November 4, 2008)
To enhance cross-strait postal service cooperation and facilitate the contact and communication of the people on both sides of the strait, upon equal negotiations, the Association for Relations across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) and the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) have reached an agreement on cross-strait direct postal service cooperation as follows:
I. Scope of Business
Both parties agreed to provide cross-strait direct postal services such as regular mails, registered mails (including letters, postcards, letter sheets, printed matters, newsprints, magazines and documents for the blind), small packages, parcels, express mails and postal remittance across the strait and strengthen other postal service cooperation.
II. Mail Dispatch Offices
The mail dispatch offices of the mainland are Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Xi'an, Nanjing and Chengdu; those of Taiwan are Taipei, Kaohsiung, Keelung, Kinmen and Matzu. Both parties may increase or adjust their dispatch offices according to the actual needs, while the party which does so shall notify the other party.
III. Mail Delivery
Both parties agreed to deliver mail dispatches to each other's mail processing center by air or direct sea transport.
IV. Specification and Restrictions
Both parties agreed to determine the size, weight and other specifications of postal matters through negotiations and respect each other's prohibitive provisions.
V. Account Settlement
Both parties agreed to set up a direct account settlement relationship for the accounting issues concerned in the cross-strait postal service cooperation.
VI. Document Format
The tags, lists, mail bags and inquiry forms for processing mails shall be in formats acknowledged by both parties.
VII. Inquiry Services
The mail processing centers of both parties shall be responsible for contacting each other for inquiries about registered letters, small packages, parcels and express mails and shall provide fast and convenient channels for business contacts.
VIII. Time Limit for Inquiry
An inquiry about a registered letter or package shall be submitted within six months from the next day after the mail is sent by the original sender, while the time limit for an inquiry about an express mail shall be submitted within three months from the next day after the mail is sent.
IX. Compensation Responsibility
While a registered letter or package sent across the strait is lost, or the whole or part of the content of a registered letter or package is lost, stolen, damaged or destroyed, the liable party shall assume the responsibility for compensation and settle accounts with the other party.
While an express mail is lost or the inside piece is stolen, damaged or destroyed, the sender party shall assume the responsibility for compensation without account settlement with the other party.
X. Liaison Bodies
1. Communications on matters agreed-to in this Agreement shall be handled by and between the Cross-Strait Postal Service Exchange Association and the Taiwan Postal Service Association. The specific postal service business shall be operated by and between the mail processing centers of both sides.
2. Communications regarding other matters relating to this Agreement shall be handled by the ARATS and SEF.
XI. Fulfillment of and Modification to this Agreement
 Both parties shall abide by this Agreement.
 Any modification to this Agreement shall be made upon the consent of both parties and confirmed by both parties in written form.
XII. Dispute Settlement
For any dispute arising from the application of this Agreement, both parties shall settle it through negotiations as soon as possible.
XIII. Issues Not Covered in this Agreement
Issues not stipulated in this Agreement shall be negotiated separately by both parties in an appropriate way.
XIV. Effectiveness
This Agreement shall come into force within forty days from the day when it is singed by both parties.
This Agreement was signed on the fourth day of November in quadruplicate with each party holding two.
Association for Relations across the Taiwan Strait Straits Exchange Foundation
President Chen Yunlin President Chiang Pin-kung