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03.11.2021
The end of the year is traditionally the busiest working period for postal establishments throughout the world. Besides, this year too COVID-19 is a significant factor affecting item deliveries, which has a negative impact on both transportation options and delivery times. Therefore, as 2021 is approaching its end, Latvijas Pasts encourages customers to make purchases in international online stores and send gifts for the end-of-the-year holidays abroad in time. In order for the items to reach the addressees before the upcoming holidays, it is recommended to send the items to countries on other continents by the end of November, while sending items within Europe should be planned no later than the beginning of December. The last day for delivery of items before Christmas this year in Latvia is the 23rd of December and for delivery before the turn of the year – the 30th of December.
November and December are traditionally the busiest periods when the number of items and the workload of postal companies around the world are increasing several times. This year too, the adverse effects of COVID-19 must also be taken into consideration, as they have a substantial impact on the delivery options and times. Therefore, the first and foremost condition that customers should consider in order for greetings and gifts to reach the recipients before the end-of-year holidays is that they must be prepared, arranged and sent in a timely manner.
When planning the desired time for the delivery of items, one should take into account the distance to the addressee’s country: the farther the destination, the longer the item is likely to travel, especially if there is no direct air traffic between the countries at all and the item moves in transit from one country to another. It should be taken into consideration that even in Europe items may require a longer time to get transported: if the postal operator of the country of dispatch does not have the opportunity to use direct air traffic for the delivery of an item, but routes the item from one country to another, including through cargo transportation by road, the item in transit may get delayed for several weeks.
The exchange of postal items with some foreign countries is still restricted or delayed in a number of countries as a result of the measures taken worldwide to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus outbreak. Deliveries at the end of the year are also delayed due to congestion of items and queues at international transit airports, from where they are forwarded to other recipient countries. Item processing and delivery conditions that prevent items from reaching recipients on time may be present in each individual country; besides, they may be changed at any time depending on security considerations of every country.
Taking into account the above circumstances, the latest time to send end-of-the-year gifts to countries on other continents should be the end of November, and in Europe – no later than the beginning of December.
In order for an item to reach the addressee successfully, the accurate address must be specified on it: make sure that the street name, house or apartment number as well as the postal code are written correctly. If an incorrect postal code is specified on an item, the item will reach the addressee sooner or later, but it will travel longer as items are primarily sorted based on the postal code specified.
It is important for the sender to make sure that the stamps of a suitable face value are affixed to the item: if the item is prepared for sending in the post office, the needed value will be accurately determined by the postal employees, but if the sender affixes the stamps himself or herself, it is recommended to check the information in the pricelist, which can be found on the website of Latvijas Pasts, or use the available tariff calculator, which is a handy tool for calculating the cost of sending an item.
As postal items are mostly carried by passenger airplanes, air carriers impose various prohibitions on air mail for security reasons: you may not send a range of household items such as perfumes, batteries and lighters.
Each country may also have established additional prohibitions on the sending of certain goods as postal items: before preparing a cross-border item for shipping, check whether the selected item is allowed to be imported into the country concerned. This information is available in the Manual for Acceptance of International Postal Items published on the website of Latvijas Pasts.
It is also important to remember that it is prohibited to place money, securities, precious metals, jewels and jewellery in letter-post items: if prohibited goods and items, including money, are detected, they may be confiscated by competent authorities on any section of the item shipping route.
Latvijas Pasts would like to remind you that the last day for delivery of items before Christmas in Latvia this year is the 23rd of December and for delivery before the turn of the year – the 30th of December.
About SJSC Latvijas Pasts
Latvijas Pasts ensures the widest availability of postal services throughout Latvia by maintaining more than 600 post offices. The primary function of the company is provision of the universal postal service; Latvijas Pasts also provides commercial transport, express mail, payment, press subscription, retail and philatelic services. Latvijas Pasts is a wholly State-owned company with around 3,200 employees. The quality measurements of Latvijas Pasts domestic mail deliveries are regularly conducted by Kantar TNS, one of the leading market, social and media research agencies in Latvia. In turn, the quality measurements of the cross-border deliveries are provided within the framework of the International Post Corporation through the intermediary of the research companies Kantar TNS, Ipsos and Quotas.
Additional information:
Vineta Danielsone | Senior Public Relations Project Manager
E-mail: pr@pasts.lv; vineta.danielsone@pasts.lv
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