- By Pablo Castellanos
- June 23, 2023
The United States Postal Service (USPS) announced there would be changes made to their compliance processes for CMRA (Commercial Mail Receiving Agents). These changes will take effect July 1st, 2023, and will continue for the upcoming months in an effort to grant operators the time needed to transition into its new format successfully.
Let's define some key terms
CMRA (Commercial Mail Receiving Agent): A designation that allows your business as a mail operator to receive and handle mail on behalf of other people (this is probably you 😉).
Form 1583 (Application for Delivery of Mail through Agent): The form that renters have to complete and sign to grant you access to their postal mail and stay compliant with the United States Postal Service regulations.
CRD (Customer Registration Database): An online platform that the USPS will be using to store and manage compliance documents. This platform is set to be released officially on the 1st of July 2023.
Now that we understand the basics, here is what you need to know as a CMRA:
- The USPS Form 1583 — Application for Delivery of Mail Through Agent has been updated, the bigger and most noticeable change although not required, is a space for notarization of the form.
- CMRAs are required to upload The USPS Form 1583 to the Customer Registration Database (CRD) with their respective IDs.
- As a CMRA you will not be required to keep the physical USPS Form 1583; it will suffice with a digital copy.
- As a CMRA you won’t be required to keep a copy of the applicant’s IDs.
- As a CMRA you won’t be required to update expired documents for closed PMBs.
- As a CMRA you must still re-mail PMB customer’s mail for 6 months after the termination date of their agency relationship.
As stated before, these changes will be implemented on the first of July of this year (2023). CMRAs will receive instructions on how to access the CRD via mail. As a CMRA, you will have nine (9) months to upload the new and up-to-date documents to the CRD.