Category - Bureau Posting News

Bureau Mailing October 2022

QSL cards have been posted to 82 World Bureaus – Monday 24th October 2022
This mailing is a joint mailing between M0OXO Charles & M0URX Tim. (also thanks K3ZO Fred)
I would very much appreciate feedback from you when the QSL cards start arriving at World Bureaus or received by hams around the world? 

This mailing had been delayed due to Covid-19 restrictions. Also due to issues caused by the World Customs Organisation regulations.

The parcels are sent by Priority Business Mail to get to the Bureaus quickly.

Total amount of QSL cards dispatched: 16,607 
Via M0URX 9,476,  Via M0OXO 7,131. 
,Total Weight: 67240g
Total Shipping Cost: £355.59 – £5.29 per kg. (gross weight)

Average postage cost 2.14p per QSL card. Dispatch listed below in grams to each destination.
The below volumes are measured in grams per parcel

UK United Kingdom   1650
Europe Austria  1000
Belgium  2020
Bulgaria  193
Croatia  530
Cyprus
Czech Republic  1190
Denmark  260
Estonia 46
Finland  52
France 11860
Germany  14,000
Greece  330
Gibraltar
Hungary  355
Italy 5,544
Ireland  83
Latvia  63
Netherlands   2400
Malta  7
Norway  335
Poland  2,020
Portugal  275
Romania  200
Slovenia   295
Slovakia  375
Spain  2970
Sweden  900

R.O.W Andorra  ROW
Algeria
Argentina   350
Armenia
Aruba
Australia   235
Barbados
Belarus  62
Bermuda
Brunei
Bosnia Herzegovina  71
Brazil  156
Canada 530
Chile 23
China  145
Colombia  11
Costa Rica 
Cuba  81
Dominican Republic  10
Ecuador 20
El Salvador
Faroe Islands 
Falkland Islands 
Guatemala
Georgia 
Honduras 
Hong Kong  14
Iceland  7
India  29
Indonesia  50
Iran
Israel  50
Japan 14,990
Jordan
Kazakhstan  11
Kyrgyzstan
Kuwait 20
Lebanon
Liechtenstein  7
Lithuania  126
Luxembourg   135
Macau
Macedonia 17
Malaysia 14
Mexico  10
Moldova  20
Monaco
Mongolia
Namibia
New Caledonia
New Zealand 43
Nicaragua
Oman
Kazakistan
Panama  15
Paraguay
Peru    8
Philippines  17
Qatar
Russian Fed 2410
Saudi Arabia
Serbia  345
Singapore
South Africa 26
South Korea  305
Sri Lanka
Switzerland  665
Taiwan  17
Taj
jikistan
Thailand 60
Trinidad
Tunisia
Turkey  250
United Arab Emirates
Ukraine  695
Uzbekistan
Uruguay
Venezuela  190
Fiji 23

USA W0, W1, W2 W3, W4, WW4 W5, W6, W7, W8, W9 5,550
WP3  26
WL7 24
WH6  46
KP2

Bureau In October 2022

700 Bureau cards received from RSGB 07/10/2022. Processed for next dispatch. 

Please use OQRS only! – Sending us bureau cards wastes time, money and labour. Please USE OQRS only. Thank you

Bureau In July 2022

2,200 Bureau cards received from RSGB 13/07/2022.

Please use OQRS only! – Sending us bureau cards wastes time, money and labour. Please USE OQRS only. Thank you

Undeliverable Bureau cards

As we have reported previously there are some Bureau parcels that remain undelivered which is why we cannot guarantee ANY bureau QSLs requested. We strongly advise that you always use OQRS Direct.
Let me go through some of the problems that continue:

Argentina QSL Bureau – Parcels get returned almost every time endorsed “not collected”. Despite sending these again and again we cannot get these to Argentina Bureau.
Brazil QSL Bureau – Despite some parcels getting through. The address alone is not sufficient for getting through customs. IARU will not provide correct information on its website. Brazil customs return most parcels without Pre-Electronic Delivery Advice. Package returned 6 times, One package got through.
Cuba QSL Bureau – For the past 5 years at least, Cuba Bureau packages have been returned uncollected from the PO Box. We can only assume that the Cuba Bureau is no longer functional.
Portugal QSL Bureau – July package was returned endorsed “Non-reclaimed” We are now in communication by email to REP. Package to be reposted!
Sweden QSL Bureau – July parcel was returned. Insufficient documentation. Swedish Customs now will NOT accept any parcels that do not have Pre-Electronic Delivery Advice. IARU does not provide the complete information. Sweden Bureau cannot be supported until full data is provided to us.
Turkey QSL Bureau – July parcel was returned. Insufficient documentation. Turkish Customs now will NOT accept any parcels that do not have Pre-Electronic Delivery Advice. IARU does not provide the complete information. Turkish Bureau cannot be supported until full data is provided to us. Package returned twice. 

We have reported the issues with the lack of data for the Pre-electronic delivery advice to IARU many times since 2017 and repeatedly told that they consider that putting this data on the IARU website contravenes GDPR regulations. However, without it the Bureaus will cease to function. There are many other Bureau packages that have been returned due to Covid restrictions or non-collection or other reasons that we have been able to resend and eventually arrived at the destination Bureau. To continue re-sending the Bureau packages costs more money. 

If you are in one of the above countries and requested Bureau cards, we suggest that you request Via Direct using OQRS only as we are unable to get the cards to your Bureau. If any of you have connections with those Bureaus listed above, we would like to engage in discussions to allow re delivery. But if Bureaus and the IARU continue to bury their head in the sand to ignore the new worldwide Pre-Electronic Delivery Advice customs regulations it will be catastrophic for the Bureau system.

Incoming Bureau September 2021

3,200 Incoming Bureau cards arrived from the RSGB Bureau on September 24th 2021.
Cards sorted and processed through OQRS as of today 4th October. You know! You do not need to send Bureau cards for DXpeditions or rare DX. Just use OQRS. You can get your bureau cards 2 years quicker that way!

Brazil – The parcel sent in March to Brazil QSL Bureau was returned for the 7th time. Unable to deliver to Brazil QSL Bureau.
Croatia – Parcel returned uncollected from July. Posted back to the Croatia Bureau 05/10/2021.

Re-posted

Two Bureau packages have been re-posted to Turkey and Belarus after they were returned from their respective Customs for no “Pre-Advice Electronic Data” The IARU are reluctant to provide the data we need to send Bureau parcels because the IARU believe that this data contravenes GDPR regulations.

Since posting these again the Turkey QSL Bureau was again returned by customs. Sorry TA hams… This is a problem that only IARU can sort out. 

There are many countries now that do not allow any import of packages that do not have Pre advice Electronic Data. The Universal Postal Union made it compulsory for ALL International parcels to provide the following data, the recipient’s name, telephone number and email address must be supplied electronically.

However, when reading the regulations, it is clear that “Personal Communications” (QSL Cards) are exempt from the regulations. It is though for the customs of the recipient country to determine if they allow the parcel to be forwarded to the recipient, returned or destroyed. Sending Bureau cards is a lot more complicated these days. 

Bureau Mailing July 2021

QSL cards have been posted to 103 World Bureaus – Monday 5th July 2021
This mailing is a joint mailing between M0OXO Charles & M0URX Tim. (Thanks Chris G1VDP, also thanks K3ZO Fred)
I would very much appreciate feedback from you when the QSL cards start arriving at World Bureaus or received by hams around the world? 

This mailing had been delayed due to Covid-19 restrictions. The cost of air freight for this mailing is considerably higher due to the lack of air freight capacity at this time. We have had to find new ways to reduce shipping rates and this remains a fluid and an ongoing issue.

The parcels are sent by Priority Business Mail to get to the Bureaus quickly.
Total amount of QSL cards dispatched: 23,804
Via M0URX 9,139,  Via M0OXO 14,050, Via MD0CCE 615, 
Total Weight: 88.328 kgs
Total Shipping Cost: £645.93 – £7.31 per kg. (gross weight includes packaging)

Average postage cost 2.71p per QSL card. Dispatch listed below in grams to each destination.

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United Radio QSL Bureau Update

A few months ago I considered closing the Bureau option on some of my call signs on OQRS as the demands and costs are getting unsustainable. I actually decided NOT to do that and at this current time, all Bureau cards are now ready to be dispatched in the next couple of weeks.
However, the global pandemic has caused a major restriction on air freight worldwide which has led to enormous increases in costs. For example, 10 small packages to ARRL have increased from £14 in total to £103, while the parcel to Japan JARL from £50 to £160, if you multiply the increases to all 90 IARU Bureau destinations the cost is quite a shock to bare.

I therefore had no choice but to introduce a $0.30c charge on Bureau cards on OQRS to help alleviate losses in my future Bureau mailings.

I appreciate to some, this may not be very popular but let me stress, this is NOT about making money. Applying a small charge/contribution will go a huge way to combat the deficit in Postage Costs to World Bureau’s. Without it the Bureau service will cease.
So you think Bureau is free? Since February 2014 we have paid £5,051.05 to get the Bureau cards posted… Free is not a word i recognise!

Thank you for your understanding…

Brazil Bureau Mail Unclaimed?

Brazil QSL Bureau parcel that we sent last year to the new PY address has been returned endorsed “UNCLAIMED” 

I would like to express my gratitude to LABRE for solving this matter very quickly this week. Today i received the following letter from LABRE:

“Dear Tim Beaumont,
LABRE comes by means of this, to clarify some problems faced by you in sending cards QSL for Brazil.
In March 2014, LABRE transferred the management and treatment of cards coming from abroad to the São Paulo branch, and in that time, the national administration did not inspect or as the
work was being done. In 2020, there was a change in the entire Board of Directors, and we opted for the return of QSL’s management to Brasília, at the address that is currently on the IARU website https://www.iaru.org/reference/qslbureau-2/
Regarding the emails sent by you, we do not know the reason for the non-response because they did not arrive to us, we ask for your understanding and request that you use the email secretaria@labre.org.br to deal with
any matter with LABRE.
We emphasize that there was also a failure of communication between the Brazilian postal service and LABRE, as we did not receive reports that there were packages awaiting payment of taxes for the
completion of submission.
We are also surprised by this occurrence, as we have received several cards from other countries usually. In view of these occurrences, we have adopted the procedure of consulting weekly for
possible remittance from abroad, and with that we hope to eliminate the problems caused.
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused and here we reinforce our longing for receive the cards that unfortunately returned.”

Dear LABRE,
I would like to express my gratitude to LABRE for solving this matter very quickly this week.
I have updated my website blog and added the letter very kindly sent to me by you today.
As far as i am concerned the matter is now resolved, any further loss of mail will be reported directly to you in future.
Regarding the emails, there were many email, and i got the email addresses from the LABRE Website which were obviously incorrect and have now been removed from the LABRE website. So maybe the website was not up to date? I also confirmed the email address with IARU which also gave me the wrong email address for LABRE. Again this matter is now resolved. I will be posting this parcel again to you for your members using “Printed Media Business Mail”
Some of the parcels i had sent to you in 2019 and 2020 that got returned were returned because of the new worldwide Pre Advice Delivery Data that is requested by Customs, Duane. Personal Correspondents such as QSL cards are EXEMPT from these new regulations, but Brazil Duane / Customs do not recognize the parcels as Personal Correspondents and return the parcels to sender. This was what the contents of my previous emails to ask for help from LABRE to allow these QSL parcels through customs / duane. So that was just for your information to help you understand why some of your parcels are required to pay TAX, this is because of the new worldwide Pre Advice Data for parcels, but there should be no TAX to pay on personal correspondents like QSL cards.
Once again, thank you for your co-operation and help. Please stay safe in these difficult covid times.

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Incoming Bureau December 2020

1,100 Incoming Bureau cards arrived from the RSGB Bureau on December 24th 2020.

I am still having difficulty in getting this message to DL, JA, F and EA radio amateurs, that you must NOT send cards through the bureau for DXpeditions, SES or Contest Qs, or for ANY call sign that is not an RSGB member. Instead you must use OQRS as explained in the QSL policy for all DXpeditions.
Also, another problem coming from these countries is that they are then sending a second QSL through bureau to say “TNX QSL” You must not do this. Please use OQRS and correctly mark your log as QSL SENT so that you DO NOT send a QSL to DXpeditions. They are NOT needed, and cause extra costs and slows down the bureau system.
Worse are those that use OQRS, but then send a Bureau QSL and then send another Bureau QSL every month until they send a Direct QSL because the Bureau card still has not arrived. Bureau will take up to 3 years. Please understand this! As many JAs & DLs send one QSL per QSO this can lead to up 60 follow up QSL’s being received here for each DX call from 1 station.
Please USE OQRS! Thank you