bpost has entered into an agreement with Flemish newspaper publishers on the delivery of newspapers from 1 July 2024. For the distribution of periodicals, bpost launches a commercial offering

On 12 December last, the government decided to end the concession for newspaper and magazine deliveries, introducing a six-month transition period between 1 January and 30 June 2024. Following this announcement bpost has worked hard to develop a new commercial service offer for newspaper and magazine deliveries from 1 July. The company entered into discussions with publishers with the aim of proposing an attractive, high-quality service while retaining the highest possible volume.
 
Today, Flemish publishers and bpost reached an agreement on further cooperation in the coming years. This agreement allows bpost to avoid a social shock and achieve a soft transition to a different distribution model from 2025.
 
bpost has made every effort to convince the publishers with a competitive offer for the provision of a high-quality service. Concretely, this means that bpost plans a gradual transfer of newspaper volumes to its subsidiary AMP as of 2025. AMP will work with subcontractors employing permanent staff for the distribution of newspapers. The agreement covers a volume equivalent to +/- 75% of the current volume delivered by bpost. 
 
bpost services will also have to be gradually adapted to the continual reduction of newspaper and mail volumes. The reduction of these volumes, which cannot be completely offset by increasing parcel volumes, shows that bpost needs to increasingly adapt to the current context. This is essential for the continuity of the Belgian business and to avoid social consequences going forward.
 
These two measures mean that bpost is able to safeguard the jobs of employees on open ended contracts in Flanders. 
 
Discussions continue with French-speaking newspaper publishers. Here again, the aims are to retain the highest possible newspaper volume, avoid social consequences and safeguard the jobs of employees on open ended contracts.  
 
New service offer for magazine deliveries
 
In order to meet the diverse requirements of the various organizations issuing periodicals (including commercial companies and NGOs), bpost has developed a new delivery service offer, that is in line with the universal postal service obligations and that takes into account the needs of the customers. The goal of the new service offer is to safeguard the continuity of the business, with due consideration for the specifics of the Belgian media landscape.
 
Customer visits have already been scheduled from earlier this week. The offer will be available online on the bpost website early May.
 
Chris Peeters, CEO bpostgroup: “Our goal was to find the right balance between safeguarding the continuity and high quality of the service, on the one hand, and meeting the price expectations of publishers, on the other. This agreement provides a clear solution for the editors and colleagues in Flanders. Discussions continue with French-speaking publishers to also reach an agreement with them.” 

Source: bpost