1^er AVRIL 2007. - An Act to amend the Act of 6 July 1971 establishing POSTE and to amend the Act of 26 December 1956 on the Post Service (1)

ALBERT II, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The Chambers adopted and We sanction the following:
CHAPTER I^er. - General provisions
Article 1^er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 78 of the Constitution.
CHAPTER II. - Provisions amending the Act of 6 July 1971 establishing POSTE
Art. 2. The numbering of the articles of the Act of 6 July 1971 establishing POSTE is amended as provided for in this chapter. The remaining numberings of items previously repealed are repealed. This applies to articles 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14 bis, 19, 20, 22, 25, 26, 28 and 29.
Art. 3. The names of chapters of the Act are amended as provided for in this chapter. The names of chapters that no longer contain articles as a result of abrogations of articles already made or that will no longer contain articles after this amendment of the Act are repealed. This concerns chapters IV and V.
Art. 4. Section 2 of the Act is replaced by the following provision:
"In the field of postal shipments, POSTE is responsible for the following tasks:
(a) Service subscriptions to newspapers and periodical writings;
(b) to serve the post in international letters, as provided for in the acts of the Universal Postal Union, in addition to the tasks it is required to perform as a provider of the universal postal service.
In the area of the financial position, POSTE is responsible for the following tasks:
(a) issuing and paying post or non-postal transfer orders;
(b) Opening and closing of current postal accounts, receiving deposits, executing credit or debit transactions and making withdrawals on those accounts;
(c) execute postal payment orders on the current postal accounts of which third parties are the holders and on accounts open to other financial institutions, whose headquarters is established in Belgium.
Upon a proposal by the Minister of Finance and the Minister or Secretary of State under the authority of LA POSTE, the King may, by order deliberately in the Council of Ministers, authorize LA POSTE, within the limits and conditions it determines, to:
1° grant or refuse cash facilities to certain holders or certain categories of common postal accounts holders;
2° provide or determine that the balance of certain categories of current postal accounts is or is not productive of interest payable or receivable;
3° pay cheques on or other securities issued by other financial institutions, whose headquarters are established in Belgium or abroad.
On the proposal of the Minister of Finance and of the Minister or Secretary of State for which LA POSTE is concerned, the King sets the rules for the execution of tasks referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3.
The participation referred to in Article 13, § 2, paragraph 1^er, 2°, of the Act of 21 March 1991 on the reform of certain economic public enterprises is set at ten percent of the equity of LA POSTE as reflected in the balance sheet of the last fiscal year ended. »
Art. 5. Section 4 of the Act becomes section 3 and the title "Chapter II. - Assets and resources of LA POSTE" is placed above Article 3.
Art. 6. Article 8, § 2, of the same law becomes Article 4.
Art. 7. Section 10 of the Act becomes section 5 and the title "Chapter III." - The management, administration and accounting of LA POSTE is placed above Article 5.
In this same article, § 1^er is replaced by the following provision:
"The POSTE opens in its accounting an insurance fund account."
In this same article 10, § 3 is repealed and § 4 is replaced by the following provision which is inserted in § 2:
“§2. Prerequisitely to the application of section 616 of the Corporate Code, a sample of five per cent is made annually on annual profits, to be attributed to the management and staff of LA POSTE as a profit-sharing. This removal does not constitute a distribution within the meaning of section 617 of the Corporate Code and is therefore not subject to the restrictions provided for in this section. »
Art. 8. Section 12 of the Act becomes section 6.
Art. 9. Section 15 of the Act becomes section 7.
Art. 10. Section 16 of the Act becomes section 8 and the second sentence of section 16 is repealed.
Art. 11. Article 17bis of the same law becomes Article 9.
Art. 12. Chapter VI of the Act becomes Chapter IV and is placed above Article 10.
Art. 13. Section 21 of the Act becomes section 10.
Art. 14. Section 23 of the Act becomes section 11.
Art. 15. Section 24 of the Act becomes section 12.
Art. 16. A new Chapter V is inserted in the same law with the title "Chapter V. - Miscellaneous provisions relating to postal services".
Art. 17. Section 13 is inserted in the same Act and read as follows:
“Art. 13. Any claim and legal action against a postal operator shall be prescribed by one year from the date of receipt by the postal operator of the mailing that gives rise to it. »
Art. 18. Section 14 is inserted in the same Act and read as follows:
“Art. 14. The King determines the limits or formulas for calculating damages that would be due by postal operators in the event that they are extra-contractually responsible for the loss, theft, the avagance and/or the delay in the distribution of a postal shipment during the execution of a postal service within the framework of a public service. When determining these ceilings or formulas, the King takes into account the characteristics of the consignments concerned and the fees applied. »
Art. 19. Section 15 is inserted in the same Act and read as follows:
“Art. 15. Each postal operator is authorized to open, at the expiry of the deadlines set by the King, any correspondence that has been terminated, i.e. those that have not been delivered to the consignee or returned to the consignor, to the effect of drawing the information necessary to return these correspondences to whom by law and to search for valuable objects and documents to be held at the disposal of the concerned. Correspondences that have been lost and unclaimed are destroyed in time to be determined by the King. »
Art. 20. Section 16 is inserted in the same Act and read as follows:
“Art. 16. Any postal operator is authorized to approve affranchir machines that can be used for postage disposal. »
Art. 21. Section 17 is inserted in the same Act and read as follows:
“Art. 17. The provisions of the same Act and Title IV of the Act of 21 March 1991 on the reform of certain economic public enterprises are applicable both to postal operations within the country and to those carried out with foreign countries, however, in the latter case, that the international conventions approved by the two Chambers do not hinder them. »
Art. 22. A new Chapter VI is inserted in the same law with the title "Chapter VI. - Penalties. Continued."
Art. 23. Section 18 is inserted in the same Act and read as follows:
“Art. 18. The staff of a postal operator, who would have revealed the existence or content of a letter, postcard or any other shipment or operation entrusted to a postal operator, except where they are called to testify in court and where the law obliges them to this revelation, will be punished by imprisonment from eight days to six months and a fine from one hundred euro to five hundred euro. The staff of a postal operator shall be assimilated to any person who participates, in any way, even occasionally, in the execution of a postal service. »
Art. 24. Section 19 is inserted in the same Act and read as follows:
“Art. 19. Whoever, in an intention of fraud, has declared to a higher value the objects contained in a consignment, shall be punished by imprisonment from one month to one year and a fine of twenty-six to five hundred euros. »
Art. 25. Section 20 is inserted in the same Act and read as follows:
"Art. 20. A fine of one hundred euros to five hundred euros shall be punished by imprisonment for 15 days to six months and by a fine of five hundred euros, all persons referred to in Article 18 who, voluntarily and without the circumstances provided for in Articles 15 and 22, have opened a letter entrusted to a postal operator or facilitated the opening of it. The same penalties are imposed against the same persons who, voluntarily, have deleted any consignment or have not carried out an operation entrusted to a postal operator or have facilitated this deletion or default. »
Art. 26. Section 21 is inserted in the same Act and read as follows:
“Art. 21. The provisions of Book I of the Criminal Code, without exception of Chapter VII and Article 85, are applicable to the offences provided for in this Act. "
Art. 27. Section 22 is inserted in the same Act and read as follows:
“Art. 22. Customs employees are allowed to search for messengers and transport contractors and their equipment and to seize shipments subject to a violation of the postal monopoly as described in section 144octies of the Act of 21 March 1991 on the reform of certain economic public enterprises.
In the event of a violation, a report shall be immediately filed containing the enumeration of the seized objects and the address of their recipient.
This report is transmitted to the destination office, with the objects seized.
Officers of the Institute referred to in Article 25, § 1^er, 2° of the Act of 17 January 2003 relating to the status of the regulator of the Belgian postal and telecommunications sectors, as well as any other officer who is a judicial police officer, have the right to open presumed shipments containing prohibited values or objects, or objects subject to prohibition, restriction or control measures. The check, followed by seizure, if applicable, is performed ex officio. »
Art. 28. The title of Chapter VII of the Act is replaced by "Chapter VII. - Other Miscellaneous Provisions » and is inserted after Article 22.
Art. 29. Section 27 of the Act becomes section 23.
Art. 30. The title of the Act is replaced by the words: "An Act respecting the creation of POSTE and certain postal services".
CHAPTER III. - Abrogatory provisions
Art. 31. In the same Act, the following sections are repealed:
1st Article 3;
2° Article 14, as amended by the Royal Decree of 14 September 1992;
3° Article 17, amended by the Act of 21 March 1991 and by the Royal Decree of 14 September 1992;
4° Article 18.
Art. 32. The Post Service Act of 26 December 1956, as amended by the Acts of 10 June 1997, 12 December 1997, 19 December 1997, 3 July 2000, 21 March 1991, 24 December 2002, 23 January 2003 and the Royal Decrees of 5 August 1986, 14 September 1992, 9 June 1999 and 13 July 2001, is repealed.
Promulgation of this Act, order that it be coated with the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor
Given in Brussels, 1^er April 2007.
ALBERT
By the King:
The Minister of Justice,
Ms. L. ONKELINX
Minister of Budget and Protection of Consumer Affairs,
Ms. F. VAN DEN BOSSCHE
Minister of Economy, Energy, Foreign Trade and Science Policy,
Mr. VERWILGHEN
The Secretary of State for Public Enterprises,
B. TUYBENS
Seal of the state seal:
Minister of Justice
Ms. L. ONKELINX
____
Note
(1) Documents of the House of Representatives:
51-2780 - 2006/2007:
Number 1: Bill.
Number two: Erratum.
No. 3: Amendments.
Number 4: Report.
No. 5: Text adopted by the commission.
No. 6: Text adopted in plenary and transmitted to the Senate.
Full report: 8 February 2007.
Documents of the Senate:
3-2062 - 2006/2007:
No. 1: Project not referred to by the Senate.