By IANS,
Beijing : Major courier firms in Shanghai have started ordering their delivery staff to examine contents of parcels they receive from customers more often, as part of a government direction for security.
It is being done as a prelude to a new rule from May 1 by the State Post Bureau of China, the Shanghai Daily reported.
The directions have been after a man was seriously injured in early February in Guangzhou city in a blast in a package containing explosives when it was delivered to him.
The explosives were disguised as a festival gift and were delivered from another address in Guangzhou.
Couriers of the YTO Express and Yunda Express delivery firms have started asking customers to open their parcels or declare what is inside, said companies’ officials.
“The company has authorised the couriers to refuse taking the parcels if the customers refuse to open them,” an official with the YTO Express said.
According to an official with Yunda Express, customers must open the parcels if they send things from hotels or from other temporary addresses.
Couriers would have the right to refuse delivering parcels if customers declined to open them, according to the Courier Service Rule from the State Post Bureau of China.
Beijing’s agency has ordered couriers to carefully examine the contents of parcels they receive starting next month.
A circular on the agency’s website orders Beijing couriers to stamp the delivery bill after checking the contents of a parcel in the sender’s presence to ensure the information and the package’s contents are detailed correctly.
The Beijing agency also stipulated that the courier who takes delivery of the goods will be held directly responsible for the parcel’s safe transportation, and the company should keep complete documents for the delivery to enable necessary tracking.