Mr. Gene A. Del Polito

President

Association for Postal Commerce

1901 N. Ft. Myer Drive, Suite 401

Arlington, VA 22209-1609

Dear Mr. Del Polito:

We previously announced that the new Mail Evaluation Readability Lookup INstrument (MERLIN) address accuracy barcode digit string analysis verification would be implemented on

January 1, 2004. In consideration of the holiday period, we have decided to extend the implementation date to January 17, 2004.

The address accuracy barcode digit string analysis will check for blatant errors such as ‘0000’ or ‘9999’ in the sector/segment fields of the ZIP+4 barcode, and either identical or sequential strings in the sector/segment and delivery point fields of the barcode. Invalid ‘0000’ or ‘9999’ codes in the sector/segment field of ZIP+4 Code will have a 0 percent tolerance. A 1 percent tolerance is allowed for the identical or sequential digit string errors.

This extension will give mailers additional time to assess their address matching process and identify situations where any of these errors may occur. Business mail entry units are being instructed to provide the address accuracy digit string results to mailers as a diagnostic tool to assist them with investigating and correcting problems prior to implementation.

Your cooperation is requested in extending this information to your members.

Sincerely,

John R. Wargo

cc: Anita J. Bizzotto

Michele Denny

John J. Sadler