'Manually checking millions of postal items every day is not feasible'

The information was shared by Mr. Le Van Chung, representative of the Postal Department, Ministry of Science and Technology, at a regular press conference on the morning of September 30, when introducing new points in the draft revised Postal Law.

According to Mr. Chung, from 2010 to 2026, the number of postal businesses will increase from 40 to 710, while the output of postal items will increase from 310 million to more than 5 billion. The scale and mode of operation of the market have changed significantly compared to when the Postal Law was promulgated in 2010.

The postal structure also changed. Previously, mail accounted for about 80% of output, but now only about 10%. The remainder is mainly packages and parcels of goods, associated with the growing demand for delivery and e-commerce.

This change is one of the bases for the draft revised Postal Law proposing to expand the scope of universal postal services from letters to packages and parcels of goods. According to the draft, people nationwide will have access to universal services with uniform fees, no higher than the average price of equivalent commercial services.

People in remote areas, border areas, and islands still have the ability to access services and send packages and parcels at the same rates as other areas, including urban areas, instead of having to pay higher rates due to high service costs or low output.

The draft also clarifies the scope of postal services and differentiates them from transportation, warehousing, and logistics. Postal services are determined based on the nature and method of service provision. Specifically, the service is provided on the postal network, each postal item is processed individually, has an identification code, has tracking capabilities and is delivered to the recipient at the agreed address or location.

According to Mr. Chung, with an output of millions of postal items per day, full manual inspection is not feasible. Therefore, the draft proposes to strengthen management based on data, identification, tracing and risk levels.

Each parcel is assigned an identification code for tracking throughout the service delivery process. Based on information about the sender and the postal item, businesses manage postal items according to the level of risk to apply appropriate control measures, instead of checking all at once.

Another change is the market entry procedure. The draft moves from issuing paper postal licenses to registering service provision electronically, thereby changing the management method from pre-inspection to post-inspection. According to a representative of the Postal Department, this approach helps reduce the number of administrative procedures from 14 to one registration procedure.

The draft also identifies the postal network as essential infrastructure serving e-commerce and the digital economy. This role is especially important when natural disasters, epidemics, or emergencies occur, when it is necessary to maintain the circulation of letters, packages, and parcels of essential goods to serve the people.

At the press conference, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Tran Trung Tinh said that in October, the Ministry will focus on completing draft laws and decrees, including the revised Postal Law.

The draft revised Postal Law includes 8 chapters and 52 articles, expected to be considered and approved by the 16th National Assembly, 2nd session, in October and take effect from July 2027.

Trong Dat