Tanzania works closely with the Universal Postal Union (UPU), which is the United Nations specialized agency that coordinates postal policies among member nations and facilitates a uniform worldwide postal system. The UPU also oversees the Telematics and Express Mail Service (EMS) cooperatives, which provide international express mail delivery. Pursuant to the UPU's mission, each member state agrees to the same terms for conducting international postal duties.
Headquartered in Berne, Switzerland, and with regional presence in Africa, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, Caribbean, Europe & CIS and Arab Region, UPU is made up of a membership of 192 Member States. Tanzania joined UPU in 1963 and has been participating actively in UPU processes through experts from capital and the Permanent Mission in Geneva, working in close cooperation, by engaging colleagues from other UPU Member States in reaching mutual understanding through transparency and constructive dialogue, and thereby contributes to global postal services policies and regulations. Tanzania also hosts the Pan African Postal Union (PAPU) office in Arusha.
The UPU contains four bodies: the Congress, the Council of Administration (CA), the Postal Operations Council (POC) and the International Bureau (IB). The UPU Congress is the highest decision-making body of the UPU that is composed of all ITU Member States. The congress meets every four years to examine proposals to amend the acts of the UPU and serves as a forum for participating member countries to discuss a broad range of issues impacting international postal services, such as market trends, regulation and other strategic issues.
In the interval between Congresses, the Council of Administration (CA), which consists of 41 Member States (elected during Congress) meets annually at UPU headquarters in Berne. The Council ensures the continuity of the UPU's by supervising its activities and studying regulatory, administrative, legislative and legal issues. Meanwhile, the Postal Operations Council (POC), which consists of 48 Member States (elected during Congress), is technical and operational mind of the UPU, whose work programme is geared towards helping Posts modernize and upgrade their postal products and services. The International Bureau of the UPU is tasked with the secretariat function of the Union.
Tanzania is a member to Member the Council of Administration (CA) and the Postal Operations Council (POC).