Key Benefits:
The Autorité de régulation des communications électronique et des postes,
Considering the Universal Postal Union Convention and its resolution of the post to letters;
Considering Directive 97 / 67 / EC of 15 December 1997 on common rules for the development of the Community's domestic market for postal services and the improvement of the quality of service;
Given the Post and Electronic Communications Code, including its articles L. 1, L. 2, R. 1 and R. 1-1-10 ;
Having regard to the list of La Poste offers under the universal postal service as of 1 March 2008;
In view of the request of the Secretary of State for Industry and Consumer Affairs, spokesperson for the Government on 21 November 2008;
After deliberating on 16 December 2008,
Context elements
The term "cecograms" is absent from the dictionaries of the French language. The Polyglot Vocabulary of the International Postal Service of the Universal Postal Union defines the cecogram as a "shipping of the post to letters containing cecographic letters, sound recordings or special paper intended solely for the use of the blind, admitted to the conditions provided for in the acts".
Article RL 124 of the Universal Postal Union's Manual of Posting states that "... can be sent as a cecograms the open cecographic letters and the clichés bearing signs of cecography. The same is true of sound recordings and special paper intended solely for the use of the blind, provided that they are sent by an institute for the blind officially recognized or sent to such institute (...)".
In addition, these consignments in favour of the blind, free of charge, must comply with admission conditions, including checking their content.
According to the general management of the companies, the population of the visually impaired is divided between 70,000 blind and 1, 130 million Amblyopes.
The development of computer science and document exchanges in audio format has led to a significant decrease in exchanges in Braille among individuals. There are about 6,000 blind people in France who regularly practice Braille. According to the general management of the companies, each of them usually sends less than ten Braille mail to other blind correspondents.
According to La Poste, shipments of ecograms represent a traffic of about half a million objects per year, which is just 3 shipments per 100,000 of the 16, 6 billion shipments of correspondence sent to France according to the observatory of ARCEP's postal activities for the year 2007.
According to the general management of the companies, in 2007, the State paid La Poste an invoice of 1, 5 million euros distributed between 770 000 euros for the cecograms and 730 000 euros for the sound recordings.
Regulatory framework
The principle of free sending of the Ecograms is provided for in the Universal Postal Union (UPU) Convention.
Article 12 of Directive 97 / 67 / The amended EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 1997 concerning common rules for the development of the internal market for the postal services of the Community and the improvement of the quality of the service as well as " (...) the Member States may maintain or introduce the provision of free postal services for blind and visually impaired persons (...)".
This is the choice that was made in France since, under section R. 1 (g) of the Post and Electronic Communications Code (hereinafter CPCE) "the universal postal service includes (...), under the conditions fixed by order of the minister responsible for the posts, services of sending cecograms free of charge in ordinary mail or recommended (...)".
Thus, the draft decree submitted for advice to the Authority must establish the terms and conditions for the application of Article R. 1 (g) referred to above, within the framework of the principles of universal service.
This draft decree, which was developed after consultation with the various stakeholders, allows several advances which the Authority welcomes, in relation to the current description given in the list of La Poste's offers under universal postal service as of 1 March 2008.
Thus, to take account of the evolution of technologies, the text has extended the list of free mailings to the exchange of sound recordings and digital recordings.
The text submitted for advice to the AMF also provides for the establishment of a registration procedure, by the Minister responsible for posts, of a list of associations and institutions proposed by the National Committee for the Social Promotion of the Blind and Amblyopes (CNPSAA).
On the conditions of deposit and accessibility of the ecograms
The Autorité emphasizes the importance of being able to deposit the ordinary cecograms in the collection boxes located on the public track, as long as their format is adapted. Indeed, this mode of deposit is an essential feature for common benefits under universal service; It is all the more for people with disabilities by avoiding them having to go systematically to a post office to send a cecogram.
Shipments of "recommended" Ecograms are, by definition, subject to deposit and distribution procedures and must therefore be deposited in contact points.
In addition, Article 2 of the draft Order provides for the mandatory application of a "specific label bearing the symbol defined by the Universal Postal Union Convention and the mention CECOGRAMME or SONORE REGISTRATION placed on the side of the addressee's address (...)".
The AMF emphasizes that, under the universal service, consignments egregated with cecograms must be easily accessible.
Therefore, the specific labels required to send egregated cecograms must be available at all contact points, which does not always appear to be the case.
On the liability regime applicable to consignments of Ecograms
The Authority notes that the liability regime that applies to shipments of cecograms in the event of loss, damage, or delay is not specified by the proposed Order. ♪ articles L. 7 and R. 2-1 et seq. of CPCE relating to the liability regime applicable to postal service providers do not further specify the specific liability regime for cecogram shipments.
The AMF notes that the dispatch service of ordinary cecograms may be considered a correspondence within the meaning of Article L. 1 of the CPCE as long as its weight does not exceed 2 kg. Beyond that, the Ecograms sending service may be considered to fall within the package.
Therefore, the regime applicable to ordinary shipments would depend on the weight of the shipment:
- up to 2 kg, the liability regime is the one applicable to correspondence shipments defined in section R. 2-1 of the CCCB;
― beyond, the regime that applies is that of packages defined in the article R. 2-2 of the CPCE.
The Autorité considers that the liability regime provided for in section R. 2-1 of the CPCE for the loss or loss of postal shipments other than parcels is not relevant for free shipments such as the Ecograms since it provides that any allowances paid may depend on the amount of exemption, the compensation may not exceed "... twice the rate of impairment (...)". The gratuity of the cecograms therefore implies the impossibility of compensation for the cecograms of a weight less than 2 kg.
In addition, the AMF notes that computer or digital writing materials used for documents sent by cecograms may have a significant intrinsic value.
The AMF proposes that the liability regime applicable to ordinary consignments of cecograms be the one that is most favorable to users, that is, postal parcels.
As a comparison, in the United Kingdom, in the event of loss, damage or delay in shipments of cecograms, users can claim compensation.
When the ecogram has no intrinsic value or the user does not have proof of deposit, the amount of compensation in the event of loss, damage or delay is set to a minimum of 6 first class stamps (2, 55 €).
If there is intrinsic value and the user has proof of deposit and proof of the value of the object, the amount of compensation depends on the actual value of the object and cannot exceed 100 first class stamps (42, 5 €).
Perimeter of Eligible Consignments
The AMF notes that metal clichés intended to obtain impressions for the use of the blind are not included in the list of the cecograms in the draft decree while they are admitted as cecograms in the catalogue of the universal service on the date of March 1, 2008.
With regard to these observations, the Autorité expresses a favourable opinion on the draft decision on the terms and conditions for sending cecograms and proposes some editorial changes made in the annex.
This notice and the annexed editorial proposals will be forwarded to the Secretary of State for Industry and Consumer Affairs, spokesperson for the Government, and published in the Official Journal of the French Republic.
Done in Paris, December 16, 2008.
A N N E X E
TRANSMITTED TEXT FOR AUTHORITY The removal proposals are in italics | TEXT RESULTING THE ADVIS OF AUTHORITY Addition proposals are in bold |
Article 1 | Article 1 |
Pursuant to section R.1 (g) of the above-mentioned post and electronic communications code, free-of-charge Ecogram sending services include: | Pursuant to section R.1 (g) of the above-mentioned post and electronic communications code, free-of-charge Ecogram sending services include: |
(a) Consignments written or printed in Braille; | (a) Consignments written or printed in Braille; |
(b) shipments of special papers intended for impressions to the use of the blind; | (b) shipments of special papers intended for impressions to the use of the blind; |
(c) Sound or digital recordings, including magnetic tapes, cassettes, CDs, CD-ROMs, written audio DVDs, written memory media, including mini hard disks, flash memory, USB keys, exchanged between institutions and accredited associations and blind and amblyope people. These shipments may be accompanied by a written sheet (non-braille) whose content is directly associated with the contents of these materials. | (c) Sound or digital recordings, including magnetic tapes, cassettes, CDs, CD-ROMs, written audio DVDs, written memory media, including mini hard disks, flash memory, USB keys, exchanged between institutions and accredited associations and blind and amblyope people. These shipments may be accompanied by a written sheet (non-braille) whose content is directly associated with the contents of these materials. |
Article 2 | Article 2 |
Ecogram sending services apply to shipments up to 5 kg in the national and assimilated regime up to 7 kg in the international regime (for Braille printed only). | Ecogram sending services apply to shipments up to 5 kg in the national and assimilated regime up to 7 kg in the international regime (for Braille printed only). |
Ecograms must be conditioned so that the content is sufficiently protected. The packaging and mode of closure of shipments must however allow easy control of the contents. | Ecograms must be conditioned so that the content is sufficiently protected. The packaging and mode of closure of shipments must however allow easy control of the contents. |
| Regular cecograms can be deposited in letters boxes that are permanently accessible on the public track as long as their format is adapted. |
Shipments must include the specific label bearing the symbol defined by the Universal Postal Union Convention and the CÉCOGRAMME or SONORE REGISTRATION placed on the side of the addressee's address. For emigrated shipments, the specific label is mandatory and sufficient. On the other hand, registered associations or institutes must use a process that allows the counting of the received and shipped Ecograms. | Shipments must include the specific label bearing the symbol defined by the Universal Postal Union Convention and the CÉCOGRAMME or SONORE REGISTRATION placed on the side of the addressee's address. For emigrated shipments, the specific label is mandatory and sufficient. On the other hand, registered associations or institutes must use a process that allows the counting of the received and shipped Ecograms. |
The post parcel liability regime provided for in section R. 2-2 of the Post and Electronic Communications Code applies to ordinary cecograms. | |
Article 3 | Article 3 |
Ecogram consignments may benefit from the recommendation service at the 1st recommendation rate in the domestic service. In the international regime, the Ecograms shipped are free of charge for economic service. For priority service, shippers must pay the air surtax. | Ecogram consignments may benefit from the recommendation service at the 1st recommendation rate in the domestic service. In the international regime, the Ecograms shipped are free of charge for economic service. For priority service, shippers must pay the air surtax. |
Article 4 | Article 4 |
Approval is granted to institutions and associations. Only the associations and institutions proposed by the National Committee for the Social Promotion of the Blind and Amblyopes (CNPSAA) are accredited to the Minister responsible for posts, who approves the list before forwarding it to La Poste. This list is regularly updated. | Approval is granted to institutions and associations. Only the associations and institutions proposed by the National Committee for the Social Promotion of the Blind and Amblyopes (CNPSAA) are accredited to the Minister responsible for posts, who approves the list before forwarding it to La Poste. This list is regularly updated. |
Article 5 | Article 5 |
Agreed organizations must be for non-profit purposes, aiming at the dissemination of culture and knowledge to the blind and amblyope. | Agreed organizations must be for non-profit purposes, aiming at the dissemination of culture and knowledge to the blind and amblyope. |
Article 6 | Article 6 |
The Director General of Companies is responsible for the execution of this Order, which will be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic. | The Director General of Companies is responsible for the execution of this Order, which will be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic. |
The president,
P. Champsaur