The Universal Postal Union (UPU; the international abbreviated name is UPU, from fr. Union Postale Universelle and the Universal Postal Union) was founded in 1874 by an interstate organization to provide and improve postal relations in the single postal territory formed by the Universal Postal Union. It unites almost all countries of the world.
- Royal Mail International Tracked & Signed Airmail
- Royal Mail International Signed Tracking
- Does Royal Mail Ship Internationally
- Royal Mail International Tracked Mail
- Royal Mail Tracked
- Royal Mail International Tracked Airmail Tracking
With the establishment of the Universal Postal Union in 1874, uniform postal rates were first established for sending letters and other postage abroad.
Get help with customs declaration forms, including when to use them, which countries require them and what to include on the form. Find the right international service to send your parcel or letter overseas with Royal Mail. Check prices and services available by country, and find out what you can send with our prohibited and restricted items guide.
You can track your international registered mail item or packet to its destination by using our online international tracking system.
UPU tracking package
UPU tracking number looks like XX000000000XX, where first 2 letters are used to describe package type, each country assigns its own meaning to those letters. Last 2 letters are 2-letter originating country ISO code. The digits between letters are used to uniquely identify package within UPU system.
Tracking International Post
You ordered something online or sent something abroad and you want to know where it is? You do not know on which website to track it?
If you have received a 13-digit s10 barcode (for example, LT284905264NL), the search field above will help you find your item.
By inserting your S10 barcode number in the search field, our tracking portal will track your tracking number with multiple postal services at once.
UPU Tasks
The Universal Postal Union is focusing on the following tasks:
Establishing uniform international postal services and facilitating the exchange of international mail through the Universal Postal Convention and additional agreements
Royal Mail International Tracked & Signed Airmail
Assistance to postal cooperation of the Union member states.
Setting tariffs for international postal services (including transit costs).
Settlement of controversial issues between members of the union.
International Postal Mail Tracking
You can track your International Registered Mail item or packet to its destination using our International Postal Mail Tracking service.
E-commerce influence
Royal Mail International Signed Tracking
In recent years UPU members have encountered serious problems triggered by the enormous increase in e-commerce originating from the Far East, where the terminal dues do not cover the unit costs of delivery in the destination countries, and the volumes are so big that the losses cannot be compensated by better terminal dues from other traffic. In 2016, a new remuneration system was implemented with a focus on e-commerce, but while the 2016 reform balanced the costs to the delivery services, postage costs for shippers are still asymmetric. As of 2018, US companies pay more than twice as much to mail an item from a US plant to a US customer than does a manufacturer in China to mail an item to a US customer
Postal tracking tools
Country | Tracking page | Customer Service |
| Argentina | Correo Argentino | Correo Argentino |
| Australia | Australia Post | Australia Post |
| Austria | Österreichische Post | Österreichische Post |
| Belgium | bpost | bpost |
| Landmark Global | Landmark Global | |
| Brazil | Correios de Brasil | Correios de Brasil |
| Bulgaria | Bulgarian Posts | Bulgarian Posts |
| Canada | Canada Post | Canada Post |
| Chile | Correos Chile | Correos Chile |
| Croatia | Hrvatska pošta | Hrvatska pošta |
| Cyprus | Cyprus Post | Cyprus Post |
| Czech Republic | Česká pošta | Česká pošta |
| Denmark | PostNord | PostNord |
| Egypt | Egypt Post | Egypt Post |
| Estonia | Omniva | Omniva |
| Finland | Posti | Posti |
| France | Le Groupe La Poste | Le Groupe La Poste |
| Colissimo | Colissimo | |
| Germany | Deutsche Post | Deutsche Post |
| DHL | DHL | |
| Ghana | Ghana Post | Ghana Post |
| Greece | ELTA | ELTA |
| Hong Kong | Hongkong Post | Hongkong Post |
| Hungary | Magyar Posta | Magyar Posta |
| Iceland | Iceland Post | Iceland Post |
| India | India Post | India Post |
| Indonesia | Pos Indonesia | Pos Indonesia |
| Ireland | An Post | An Post |
| Italy | Poste Italiane | Poste Italiane |
| Japan | Japan Post | Japan Post |
| Korea | Korea Post | Korea Post |
| Latvia | Latvijas Pasts | Latvijas Pasts |
| Lithuania | Lietuvos paštas | Lietuvos paštas |
| Luxembourg | POSTLuxembourg | POSTLuxembourg |
| Malaysia | Pos Malaysia | Pos Malaysia |
| Pos Laju | Pos Laju | |
| Malta | Malta Post | Malta Post |
| Mexico | Not available | Correos de México |
| Netherlands | PostNL | PostNL |
| New Zealand | New Zealand Post | New Zealand Post |
| Nigeria | Nigerian Postal Service | Nigerian Postal Service |
| Norway | Posten Norge | Posten Norge |
| Bring | Bring | |
| Philippines | PHLPost | PHLPost |
| Poland | Poczta Polska | Poczta Polska |
| Portugal | CTT | CTT |
| Romania | Poșta Română | Poșta Română |
| Russia | Russia Post | Russia Post |
| Singapore | Singapore Post | Singapore Post |
| Slovakia | Slovenská pošta | Slovenská pošta |
| Slovenia | Pošta Slovenije | Pošta Slovenije |
| South Africa | Not available | South African Post Office |
| Spain | Correos | Correos |
| Sweden | PostNord | PostNord |
| Switzerland | Swiss Post | Swiss Post |
| Taiwan | Chunghwa Post | Chunghwa Post |
| Thailand | Thailand Post | Thailand Post |
| Turkey | PTT | PTT |
| UK | Royal Mail | Royal Mail |
| Parcelforce | Parcelforce | |
| Uruguay | Correo Uruguayo | Correo Uruguayo |
| USA | USPS | USPS |
About Universal Postal Union
Prior to the establishment of the UPU, each country had to prepare a separate postal treaty with other nations if it wished to carry international mail to or from them. In some cases, senders would have to calculate postage for each leg of a journey, and find mail forwarders in a third country if there was no direct delivery. To remove this complexity, the United States called for an International Postal Congress in 1863. This led Heinrich von Stephan, Royal Prussian and later German Minister for Posts, to found the Universal Postal Union. It is currently the third oldest international organization after the Rhine Commission and the ITU. The UPU was created in 1874, initially under the name 'General Postal Union', under the Treaty of Bern signed on October 9, 1874.[6] Four years later, the name was changed to 'Universal Postal Union'
French is the official language of the UPU. English was added as a working language in 1994. The majority of the UPU's documents and publications – including its flagship magazine, Union Postale – are available in the United Nations' six official languages (French, English, Arabic, Chinese, Russian, and Spanish)
With Parcels app, you can track the Universal Postal Union shipments, as well as any package shipped from China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia.
A lot of people don’t realise that franking machines are now able to process a lot more than just 1st and 2nd Class letters; gone are the days of queuing in the Post Office in your lunch hour just to get proof of postage!
A Mailmark franking machine offers the highest discounts on all accessible services, and enables you to pay for all products from the comfort of your office. When utilising some of these products, the Royal Mail provide stationery that must be used in accordance with the service selected – the most common are additional options to collect a signature upon delivery (Signed For), or to guarantee that your item gets there next-day (Special Delivery Guaranteed, either 9am or 1pm):
Signed For is a domestic service only (within the UK) and whilst you aren’t able to track the item through the postal system, a signature is collected upon delivery and you can view that at www.royalmail.com/track-your-item. It is worth noting however, that the Royal Mail do offer an International Signed For service which also provides the same signature upon delivery but must be recorded in another posting book (using sticker P4723) – further details below.
Special Delivery Guaranteed is also a domestic product, but the item being sent is fully trackable as it makes its way through the postal system. A signature is collected upon delivery (see www.royalmail.com/track-your-item) and compensation is included for anything that doesn’t arrive at its destination (up to either £500 or £1,000). It is also worth noting that the Royal Mail do offer an International Tracked & Signed service which provides all of the above (using sticker P6696) but at a significantly higher cost.
Both Signed For and Special Delivery Guaranteed services require a sticker with a tracking number attached. You can keep a copy of the tracking number yourself in a posting book. Signed For is orange and Special Delivery Guaranteed is silver.
To be able to access and order mail supplies, you need to register as a business on Royal Mail. Simply visit www.royalmail.com/business and select ‘register’. Make sure that you use the same email address that will be used to order mail supplies as this will become your login. After registering, check back in 24-48 hours for access. This is a new system so there are still a few teething problems, however issues can be quickly resolved by using the online ‘chat’ facility.
Once registered, visit https://shop.royalmail.com; you will need to login (using the details for the account your created above).
For stationery, including SignedFor books and tracking labels, and Special Delivery Guaranteed books and tracking labels; click on the ‘Online Mail Supplies’ drop-down menu, and select either:
Royal Mail Signed For
The Signed For posting book is used ONLY for items being sent in the UK – USE LABEL P2223.
or Special Delivery Guaranteed
The Special Delivery book is used for recording items being sent:
1. Special for delivery before 9am or 12pm in the UK – USE LABEL P6396
2. International Signed For – USE LABEL P4723
3. International Signed & Tracked – USE LABEL P6696.
Does Royal Mail Ship Internationally
Add the product(s) you require to the basket and click ‘Checkout’. You will need to check and confirm your delivery details before continuing to the “payment” page. After agreeing to the Terms & Conditions, place your order – delivery takes 3-5 working days. We would recommend keeping a spare posting book and roll of labels in your office so that you don’t run out.
Royal Mail International Tracked Mail
In the online shop you are also able to purchase items such a stamp books, jiffy bags, envelopes and polythene bags; or order trays for your Business Mail Advanced post:
Royal Mail Tracked
Type ‘trays’ in the search bar and select the first option that appears ‘Royal Mail Trays’.
Royal Mail International Tracked Airmail Tracking
The default order quantity is 10 trays but you can order as many or as few as you need. You must separate items by size, service and class – ie. all the 1st Class DL letters in one tray, and all the 2nd Class C4 Large Letters in another tray. Each tray will hold a maximum of 340 x DL/C5 (Letter) items, (or 80 x C4 (or Large Letter) items, and there is a maximum weight of 10kg per tray. Please note that Signed For or Special Delivery items must be kept separate and handed to your collection driver.