58
NON - DELIVERY
LETTER POST
An undeliverable letter, postcard, small packet, printed paper, commercial paper or sample returned to this Colony from abroad, bearing on the outside the full name and address of the sender, is returned direct and unopened on payment of any charges due. Any other such undeliverable packet is opened by an officer deputed for the purpose; and if it contains the sender's address is returned to him.
An undeliverable printed paper of no value is not returned unless the sender, by means of a note on the outside of the packet in a language known in the country of destination, has asked for its return.
EARLY RETURN TO SENDER
If a sender's name and address are written on the outside of a packet the Post Office can return it immediately, if for some reason it cannot be delivered. The sender's name and address should be shown either on the back of the envelope or wrapper, or to the left of the address side; but if shown on the address side there should be no question of it being mistakenly read as the name and address of the addressee.
PARCELS
A parcel which cannot be delivered abroad is usually returned to the sender at his expense, without previous notification, unless he has requested at the time of posting that it be treated as abandoned if undeliverable.
If parcels addressed to certain places abroad cannot be delivered, the sender is advised, and his instructions for the disposal of the parcels are then communicated to the post office at which they are held.
The cost of returning a parcel includes postage, generally equivalent to the outward charge, and in many cases charges levied abroad for warehousing and so on. Customs duty raised on a parcel abroad is generally cancelled if the parcel is returned, but on parcels sent back from the Republic of Colombia, Dominican Republic, Spain and certain French colonies, the customs charges are not cancelled, and must be paid on delivery, in addition to the other charge due.
The sender of a parcel which has not been delivered to the addressee has to pay the conveyance and other costs incurred by the various postal administrations as a result of non-delivery even if the parcel has been abandoned, sold or destroyed.
It is desirable that directions must always be given as to what is to be done with a parcel if it cannot be delivered. Space is provided for this purpose on the adhesive form of customs declaration and on the despatch note. If a despatch note is used, the instructions as to disposal must be written conspicuously on the cover of the parcel as well as on the despatch note.