United Nations Postal Administration

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The United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) is the United Nations postal agency . It issues postage stamps and postal stationery in dollars for the offices in New York , in Swiss francs for the offices in Geneva and in euros (formerly Schilling ) for the offices in Vienna .

history

First UNPA postage stamp from October 24, 1951

Informal talks were held for the first time in 1946 about the United Nations' commitment to the postal service. In 1947 Argentina suggested creating its own UN postage stamp. A complicated decision-making and development process led the United Nations General Assembly to decide on November 16, 1950 to establish the United Nations Postal Administration. On May 28, 1951, the UN signed an agreement with the United States of America. It stipulated that the US postal administration waived sovereign rights in the postal system in order to be able to issue stamps in US dollars that could only be used at UN headquarters. The first UN postage stamp appeared on October 24, 1951 and was sold out within a few days. Similar agreements were later made at the UN headquarters in Switzerland with the Swiss Post and in Austria with the Austrian Post. The first stamps for the UN offices in the Palais des Nations in Geneva appeared on October 4, 1969, the first stamps for the UN offices in the “ UNO City ” in Vienna when they opened on August 24, 1979.

Due to postal automation, UNPA stamps are mostly only sold to stamp collectors all over the world, while franking machines do their job in the offices of the UN. Since member states of the UN are subject to contributions, an agreement has been reached that the proceeds from UN stamps sold will be offset against the membership fee of the respective country.

Official stamps

Some offices of the United Nations also use or have used the official stamps of the respective regional postal administrations:

  • UNO -ONU United Nations, Geneva
  • ILO -BIT International Labor Organization, Geneva
  • IBE -BIE International Office of Education, Geneva
  • WHO -OMS World Health Organization, Geneva
  • IRO -ORI World Refugee Organization, Geneva
  • WMO -OMM World Meteorological Organization, Geneva
  • UPU Universal Postal Union, Bern
  • ITU -UIT International Telecommunication Organization, Bern
  • UNESCO Organization for Education, Science and Culture of the United Nations, Paris
  • ICJ -CIJ International Court of Justice, The Hague

Individual evidence

  1. BOREK Stamp catalog United Nations, ISBN 3-87091-134-4

literature

  • Michel UNO special catalog: postage stamps, postal stationery, exhibition cards
  • Borek United Nations stamp catalog: stamps, postal stationery, exhibition cards, commemorative cards, special cancellations etc.

Web links

Commons : Stamps of the United Nations  - collection of images, videos and audio files