Data / Federal rules / 2025-15266
Postmarks and Postal Possession
The Postal Service published this proposed rule in the Federal Register on August 12, 2025. Comments closed on September 11, 2025.
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What the agency says
The United States Postal Service seeks comment on a proposed addition to the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM). Specifically, the Postal Service proposes to add Section 608.11, "Postmarks and Postal Possession." This Section will serve multiple purposes. It will define the postmark, will identify the types of Postal Service markings that qualify as postmarks, and will describe the circumstances under which those markings are applied. This Section will also explain that, while the presence of a postmark on a mailpiece confirms that the Postal Service was in possession of the mailpiece on the date of the postmark's inscription, the postmark date does not inherently or necessarily align with the date on which the Postal Service first accepted possession of a mailpiece. In addition, this Section will advise customers of the options available if they want evidence of the exact date on which the Postal Service first accepted possession of their mailpiece. The proposed DMM addition does not signal and would not effect a change in postmarking procedures; postmarks will continue to be applied to Single-Piece First Class Mail pieces, both letter-shaped and flat- shaped, in the same manner and to the same extent as before.
Key facts
- Document number
- 2025-15266
- Type
- Proposed rule
- Action
- Proposed rule
- Agency
- Postal Service
- Published
- August 12, 2025
- Comments due
- September 11, 2025
- Dates
- Comments must be received on or before September 11, 2025.
- Code of Federal Regulations
- 39 CFR 111
- Topics
- Administrative practice and procedure
- Pages
- 7
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Everything from the Postal Service · Rules on administrative practice and procedure · Published in August 2025
Read from the Federal Register API, last updated 2026-10-23. The document on federalregister.gov is the official record; dates and dockets can change through later corrections. Free to reuse with credit to SpecStream under CC BY 4.0.