Universal Postal Union Stamp Issue

On the 2nd June 1999, Maltapost plc will issue a se-tenant set of five stamps to commemorate the 125th Anniversary of the Universal Postal Union.

The 6c stamp depicts Valletta Bastions and Marsamxett Harbour. In the past this harbour was the berthing place for ships carrying mail, mainly from plague-stricken eastern ports. Incoming mail thus had to be disinfected at the nearby Lazzaretto on Manoel Island.

The other four stamps feature the Melbourne World Stamp Expo '99; Nuremburg IBRA '99, Philex France '99, and China '99 philatelic exhibitions respectively.

The stamps have been designed by Ansgar Spratte of Germany, and are available in two se-tenant strips of five stamps per sheet. The stamps have been offset printed by Bundesdruckerei in Germany, and will remain on sale up to 26th May of the year 2000, unless stocks are previously exhausted.

The first known postal document, found in Egypt, dates from 255 BC. But even before that time postal services existed on nearly every continent in the form of messengers serving kings and emperors. In the seventeenth century the first international postal treaty was established, consisting of bilateral agreements governing the transit of mail within several European countries. National postal reforms started the process of bringing order and simplification to the international postal services. The most important reform took place in England in 1840 under the leadership of Sir Rowland Hill. Letters were to be prepaid, using a uniform rate for all letters of a certain weight, regardless of the distance involved.

On the initiative of United States Postmaster General Montgomery Blair, a conference was held in 1863 in Paris, France to continue the process of postal reform at the international level. Heinrich von Stephan, a senior postal official from the North German Confederation, then drew up a plan for an international postal union. At his suggestion, the Swiss Government convened in Berne, from 15 September 1874, a conference which was attended by representatives from twenty-two nations.

On 9 October - a day now celebrated throughout the world as World Post Day - the Treaty of Berne establishing the General Postal Union was signed. Membership in the Union grew so quickly that the name was changed in 1878 to Universal Postal Union. The Treaty of Berne succeeded in unifying a conflicting international maze of postal services and regulations into a single postal territory for the reciprocal exchange of letter-post items. Today, by virtue of its mission to promote and develop communication between the people of the world, the UPU is called upon to play an important leadership role in promoting the continued revitalization of postal services.

The Malta Postal Service has long been organised and run in conformity with UPU Regulations and Conventions. Malta has been a member since 1875, although initially represented by Great Britain as part of the British Overseas Territory. After attaining Independence in 1964, Malta as a Sovereign State was admitted as a full member in May 1965, becoming the 127th member of the UPU.