Mr. Veira said that the Universal Postal Union (UPU) is working with border control in every country in detecting suspicious mail. He added that the UPU also works closely with agents such as Customs and Transportation Security Administrations.
According to international standards, all mail leaving a country must be scanned, said Mr. Veira.
“Since the 9/11 attack, all mails going out must be scanned,” he said. “Before we send mail on the jet, the mail has to go through the scanner. Mail coming out of any country also has to follow this procedure.
The deputy post master general said that the scanners must be of a particular model and must be the most up-to-date.
“So we can rest assured that any mail leaving any port goes through due diligence checks as they are scanned,” he said. “Any suspicious thing is taken out immediately. Unless they have the most up-to-date scanners, they are not permitted to send anything out of their country unless it’s going through a port that they have a partnership with to scan their stuff.”
Mr. Veira said that the St. Kitts and Nevis Border Control is up-to-date when it comes to the latest scanning devices.
“We are compliant when it comes to those equipment and compliant in terms of the international standards,” he said.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Posts, Sharon Rattan, emphasized that the General Post Office (GPO) is continuously striving to meet international standards.
“For example, the vehicles are outfitted in a particular way. We have recently outfitted one. The driver does not interact with the mail or ought not to interact with the mail,” she explained. “There is a grill that we have just put in. It should also have two locks on it, one for the post office and one for customs. They are little things, but they can help us to stay accountable so that we do not have any unfortunate incidents of robbery et cetera. Those are security measures.”
Ms. Rattan said that along with the outfitting of vehicles, the vehicles are escorted from the airport to the GPO. It was also noted that mail are also escorted to the pier to be transported to Nevis.
She said that another thing that is being done to meet international standards is meeting with customs and the commissioner of police.
“The next step now we would have to iron out and get a booklet produced with all our operations,” said the permanent secretary.
