[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 39, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 39CFR501.3]

[Page 161-162]
 
                        TITLE 39--POSTAL SERVICE
 
                 CHAPTER I--UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
 
PART 501_AUTHORIZATION TO MANUFACTURE AND DISTRIBUTE POSTAGE
 
Sec.  501.3  Postage Evidencing System provider qualification.

    Any person or entity seeking authorization to manufacture and/or 
distribute Postage Evidencing Systems must:
    (a) Satisfy the Postal Service of its integrity and financial 
responsibility.
    (b) Obtain Postal Service approval under this part of at least one 
Postage Evidencing System satisfying the requirements of Postal Service 
regulations.
    (c) As a condition of obtaining authorization under this section, 
the Postage Evidencing System provider's facilities used for the 
manufacture, distribution, storage, resetting, or destruction of postage 
meters and all facilities housing infrastructure supporting Postage 
Evidencing Systems will be subject to unannounced inspection by 
representatives of the Postal Service. If such facilities are outside 
the continental United States, the provider will be responsible for all 
reasonable and necessary travel-related costs incurred by the Postal 
Service to conduct the inspections. Travel-related costs are determined 
in accordance with Postal Service Handbook F-15, Travel and Relocation. 
At its discretion, the Postal Service may continue to fund routine 
inspections outside the

[[Page 162]]

continental United States as it has in the past, provided the costs are 
not associated with particular security issues related to a provider's 
Postage Evidencing System or supporting infrastructure, or with the 
start-up or implementation of a new plant or of a new or substantially 
changed manufacturing process.
    (1) When conducting an inspection outside the continental United 
States, the Postal Service will make every effort to combine the 
inspection with other inspections in the same general geographic area in 
order to enable affected providers to share the costs. The Postal 
Service team conducting such inspections will be limited to the minimum 
number necessary to conduct the inspection. All air travel will be 
contracted for at the rates for official government business, when 
available, under such rules respecting class of travel as apply to those 
Postal Service representatives inspecting the facility at the time the 
travel occurs.
    (2) If political or other impediments prevent the Postal Service 
from conducting security evaluations of Postage Evidencing System 
facilities in foreign countries, Postal Service approval of the 
activities conducted in such facilities may be suspended until such time 
as satisfactory inspections may be conducted.
    (d) Have, or establish, and keep under its active supervision and 
control adequate facilities for the control, distribution, and 
maintenance of Postage Evidencing Systems and their replacement or 
secure disposal or destruction when necessary and appropriate.