Advance Electronic Data Holds and Reliability

The Postal Service coordinates its international inbound mail acceptance operations with Customs and Border Protection (CBP). A key part of these efforts is the availability and use of advance electronic data (AED), which can include details such as the recipient’s name and address, the sender’s name and address, and package contents. The objective was to determine if the Postal Service is effectively fulfilling CBP’s AED-based holds for inbound international mail. We also assessed the reliability of AED.