As part of its plan to increase the mechanisation of mail sorting, New Zealand Post will be making changes to how we "see" the mail.

It is investing in new machinery in our major mail centre sites of Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Palmerston North, Hamilton and Auckland and changing how the mail is processed..

As a result of the centralisation of mail processing to those six major mail centre sites, from March 2006 NZ Post be gradually introducing a standard ‘New Zealand Post’ postmark (date stamp) for all mail processed across the country. The new standard national postmark will include date of cancellation to demonstrate our commitment to meeting service standards, but will no longer include the place of cancellation.

Postmarks are used to ensure postage isn’t used more than once and to identify, as required by law, which postal operator has carried the mail. In the past, New Zealand Post has postmarked mail with both the date and location of cancellation. Perhaps the greatest change will be the use of a location name on the postmark. As mail processing is centralised, the location of cancellation becomes a lot less relevant – and even confusing – to customers.

Current arrangements collectors have with your local PostShop or Post Centre to hand cancel postage will remain in place. In addition, the current cancellation services offered through our Wanganui Stamp Centre will continue as will pictorial postmarks in regional sites where they are currently provided.