Newspapers Seek to Bust USPS Pact with Valassis

WASHINGTON, DC—The Newspaper Association of America (NAA) has filed for an emergency injunction against the $107 million contract the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) signed with Valassis Inc. of Livonia, MI. The trade association wants to block the three-year deal pending a full judicial review.

The contract calls for discounts of around 20 percent for Valassis if it sends out at least one million extra advertising mail pieces a year for national retailers beyond its existing advertising mail campaigns, Post & Parcel reported. The NAA claims the USPS is giving unfair assistance to Valassis to take advertising that newspapers currently mail out.

But while the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) approved the contract, the public representative appointed by the PRC later said the Commission "misapplied antitrust principles," in approving the deal.

According to Post & Parcel, the Valassis deal with USPS requires the firm to mail at least a million extra pieces each 12 months of its three-year deal. The newspaper industry believes the discount advantage provided to Valassis would actually amount to more than 400 million extra direct mail items per year.