[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 39, Volume 1]
[Revised as of July 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 39CFR501.22]

[Page 181-182]
 
                        TITLE 39--POSTAL SERVICE
 
                 CHAPTER I--UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
 
PART 501--AUTHORIZATION TO MANUFACTURE AND DISTRIBUTE POSTAGE METERS--Table 
of Contents
 
Sec. 501.22  Inventory control.

    (a) An authorized manufacturer must maintain sufficient facilities 
for and records of the distribution, control, storage, maintenance, 
repair, replacement, and destruction or disposal of all meters and their 
components to enable

[[Page 182]]

accurate accounting thereof throughout the entire meter life cycle. 
Recordkeeping is required for all meters including newly produced 
meters, active leased meters, inactive meters, unleased meters, and lost 
or stolen meters. All such facilities and records are subject to 
inspection by Postal Service representatives.
    (b) If the manufacturer uses a third party to perform functions that 
may affect meter security, including, but not limited to meter repair, 
maintenance, and disposal, the manager of Postage Technology Management, 
Postal Service Headquarters, must review in advance all aspects of the 
relationship, as they relate to the custody and control of meters, and 
must specifically authorize in writing the arrangement between the 
parties.
    (1) Postal Service authorization of a third-party relationship for a 
given function does not extend to any other function. Extension of the 
third-party relationship to another function must be implemented and 
approved as if it were a new relationship.
    (2) No third-party relationship shall compromise the security of the 
meter, or of any of its components, including, but not limited to, the 
hardware, software, communications, and security components, or of any 
system with which it interfaces, including, but not limited to, the 
resetting system, reporting systems, and Postal Service support systems. 
The functions of the third party with respect to a meter, its 
components, and the systems with which it interfaces are subject to the 
same scrutiny as the equivalent functions of the manufacturer.
    (3) Any authorized third party must keep adequate facilities for and 
records of meters and their components in accordance with paragraph (a) 
of this section. All such facilities and records are subject to 
inspection by Postal Service representatives, insofar as they are used 
to distribute, control, store, maintain, repair, replace, destroy, or 
dispose of meters.
    (4) The manufacturer must ensure that any party acting in its behalf 
in any of the functions described in paragraph (a) of this section 
maintains adequate facilities, records, and procedures for the security 
of the meters. Deficiencies in the operations of a third party relating 
to the custody and control of postage meters, unless corrected in a 
timely manner, can place at risk a manufacturer's approval to 
manufacture and/or distribute postage meters.
    (5) The Postal Service reserves the right to review all aspects of 
any third-party relationship when it becomes aware that the relationship 
poses a threat to meter security under paragraph (b)(2) of this section, 
whether or not that relationship required authorization under paragraph 
(b) of this section.

[68 FR 2698, Jan. 21, 2003]