Moftec, China Post fight on as operators pray for extension

The battle lines have been drawn on the mainland in what should be seen as a litmus test of China's willingness to adhere to the rules governing accession to the World Trade Organisation.

Appropriately enough, the industry which prides itself on being the fastest to market will also be the first on the firing line.

International express cargo operators were served notice by the State Post Bureau and others before Christmas they would have to undergo a 'certification' process, initially couched as a security measure to protect against the anthrax scare plaguing the United States mail service. The news was received warily but foreign express operators thought they understood what was driving the move, until they read the fine print.

Buried in the language of the certification notice was legislation restricting them to handling items weighing more than 500 grams, effectively carving out domestic distribution of international mail, small packages and business documents for China Post and its Express Mail Service (EMS).

The document legislated that if the express operators ventured into the restricted weight category they must charge more than China Post, which is governed by the Ministry of Information Industry (MII).

In February, China's freight forwarders were included in the restrictions and, on March 6, all were served 60 days' notice to comply with the restrictions, or risk being branded illegal.