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Title 39 — Postal ServiceRelease 119-73

§3642 New products and transfers of products between the market-dominant and competitive categories of mail

Title 39 › Part PART IV— - MAIL MATTER › Chapter CHAPTER 36— - POSTAL RATES, CLASSES, AND SERVICES › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER III— - PROVISIONS RELATING TO EXPERIMENTAL AND NEW PRODUCTS › § 3642

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Postal Regulatory Commission can change which mail products are listed as market-dominant or competitive. It can add, remove, or move products when the Postal Service, mail users, or the Commission ask. A product is market-dominant if the Postal Service can raise price, cut quality, or cut service without losing a lot of business; everything else is competitive. Products reserved to the United States under 18 U.S.C. 1696 cannot be moved out of the market-dominant group. The Commission must consider private firms that do the work, what users want, and the likely effect on small businesses. When the Postal Service asks to add or move a product, it must file a notice with the Commission and publish it in the Federal Register showing it meets the rules (including rules under section 3633). The Commission will publish revised lists and say when they replace older lists. Except as allowed by section 3641, any service that physically delivers letters, printed matter, or packages must be assigned to one of these two categories under this law or another law.

Full Legal Text

Title 39, §3642

Postal Service — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Upon request of the Postal Service or users of the mails, or upon its own initiative, the Postal Regulatory Commission may change the list of market-dominant products under section 3621 and the list of competitive products under section 3631 by adding new products to the lists, removing products from the lists, or transferring products between the lists.
(b)All determinations by the Postal Regulatory Commission under subsection (a) shall be made in accordance with the following criteria:
(1)The market-dominant category of products shall consist of each product in the sale of which the Postal Service exercises sufficient market power that it can effectively set the price of such product substantially above costs, raise prices significantly, decrease quality, or decrease output, without risk of losing a significant level of business to other firms offering similar products. The competitive category of products shall consist of all other products.
(2)A product covered by the postal monopoly shall not be subject to transfer under this section from the market-dominant category of mail. For purposes of the preceding sentence, the term “product covered by the postal monopoly” means any product the conveyance or transmission of which is reserved to the United States under section 1696 of title 18, subject to the same exception as set forth in the last sentence of section 409(e)(1).
(3)In making any decision under this section, due regard shall be given to—
(A)the availability and nature of enterprises in the private sector engaged in the delivery of the product involved;
(B)the views of those who use the product involved on the appropriateness of the proposed action; and
(C)the likely impact of the proposed action on small business concerns (within the meaning of section 3641(h)).
(c)Nothing in this title shall be considered to prevent transfers under this section from being made by reason of the fact that they would involve only some (but not all) of the subclasses or other subordinate units of the class of mail or type of postal service involved (without regard to satisfaction of minimum quantity requirements standing alone).
(d)(1)The Postal Service shall, whenever it requests to add a product or transfer a product to a different category, file with the Postal Regulatory Commission and publish in the Federal Register a notice setting out the basis for its determination that the product satisfies the criteria under subsection (b) and, in the case of a request to add a product or transfer a product to the competitive category of mail, that the product meets the regulations promulgated by the Postal Regulatory Commission under section 3633. The provisions of section 504(g) shall be available with respect to any information required to be filed.
(2)The Postal Regulatory Commission shall, whenever it changes the list of products in the market-dominant or competitive category of mail, prescribe new lists of products. The revised lists shall indicate how and when any previous lists (including the lists under section 3621 and 3631) are superseded, and shall be published in the Federal Register.
(e)Except as provided in section 3641, no product that involves the physical delivery of letters, printed matter, or packages may be offered by the Postal Service unless it has been assigned to the market-dominant or competitive category of mail (as appropriate) either—
(1)under this subchapter; or
(2)by or under any other provision of law.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2006—Pub. L. 109–435 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, section consisted of subsecs. (a) to (d), related to special authority relating to reduced-rate categories of mail.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Section applicable with respect to rates for mail sent after Sept. 30, 1993, see section 704(c)(1) of Pub. L. 103–123, set out as an

Effective Date

of 1993 Amendment note under section 3626 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

39 U.S.C. § 3642

Title 39 — Postal Service

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73