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PROPOSED RULECOMMENTS CLOSED SEPTEMBER 8, 2026

New Mailing Standards for Live Animals

Postal Service

The Postal Service proposes revising Publication 52, Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Mail (Pub 52), for various package requirements for live animals. This proposal will improve package integrity and container identification for all live animal shipments during processing and handling by prohibiting the reuse of fiberboard containers and requiring individual addressing and sequential numbering for multiple container shipments when bound together in a single shipment. Also, this proposal requires mailers to write the recipient's name and address directly on the packaging of Adult Bird shipments in the event the shipping label becomes detached from the packaging.

Published August 6, 2026Document 2026-16016

What happens next

The comment period closed on September 8, 2026. The agency now reviews the comments. If it goes ahead, it publishes a final rule in the Federal Register that responds to significant comments. We link it here when it appears. See what is open for comment now.

From the Federal Register as of November 3, 2026. Deadlines can change; the official document governs. Not legal advice.

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