COMMUNAUTÉ ÉCONOMIQUE DES ÉTATS DE L'AFRIQUE DE L'OUEST ÉCONOMIC COMMUNITY OF WEST AFRICAN STATES
SEVENTY-SEVENTH ORDINARY SESSION OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS
Abuja, 15-16 December 2016
DIRECTIVE C/DIR.1/12/16 ON POSTAL SECTOR REFORM AND REGULATION IN THE ECOWAS REGION
THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS,
MINDFUL of Articles 10, 11 and 12 of the ECOWAS Revised Treaty, establishing the Council of Ministers and defining its composition and functions;
MINDFUL of Article 33 of the said Treaty on the need to foster closer cooperation between their postal administrations, ensure, within the Community, efficient, speedier and more frequent postal services and harmonise mail routing;
MINDFUL of Supplementary Protocol A/SP1/06/06 amending the ECOWAS Treaty;
MINDFUL of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 aiming to put in place an adequate infrastructure to support Africa’s accelerated integration as well as Society’s technological transformation and trade development;
CONSIDERING the generally inadequate political situation in West Africa, where nearly 40.57% of the population does not have access to postal services;
AWARE that the Community’s postal sector is characterised by low mail volume, and a quality of service below the global standard set by the Universal Postal Union;
CONSIDERING that despite its favourable position by virtue of its presence in rural areas, the post office is still not playing a significant role in extending banking services to communities;
RECOGNISING the need to consider postal infrastructure as key to national and regional economic development and that it is important to place the postal sector among Member States and the region’s priorities;
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RECOGNISING FURTHER the need for a gradual and concerted liberalisation of the sector so as not undermine universal service providers;
CONVINCED that an efficient regional postal infrastructure will assist ECOWAS Member States attain the Sustainable Development Goals, namely, Goal 1: «end poverty in all its forms everywhere»; Goal 4: «ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote livelong learning»; Goal 9: «build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation» and Goal 13: «take urgent actions to combat climate change and its impacts»;
CONVINCED also that postal services are an essential tool for the implementation of the African Union’s Agenda 2063;
DESIROUS of ensuring an efficient organisation of the sector at sub-regional level as well as adopting the necessary mechanisms for its development;
ON THE RECOMMENDATION of the Second Ordinary Session of WAPCO Ministerial Conference held in Niamey on 20 and 21 June 2016;
PRESCRIBES
CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
ARTICLE 1: DEFINITIONS
For the purpose of the Directive, these definitions shall be culled from the various Acts of the Universal Postal Union as adopted by its member countries at Congresses. The following terms shall have the meanings defined below:
a. Postal services: services relating to clearance, sorting, transmission and delivery of postal items;
b. Postal item: an item addressed in the form in which it is to be sorted, carried and delivered by the universal service provider or any other authorised postal operator. It also includes letter-post items, postal parcels, and money order;