The first known Postal document found in Egypt, dates back to 255 BC. But even before that time postal services existed on nearly every continent in the form" of messengers serving kings and emperors. In course of time, religious orders and universities added their own message delivery system and eventually, private individuals were allowed to use these messengers in order to communicate with one another. In these early postal systems, the postal charges were generally paid by the recipient.

In the 17^th century the first international postal treaty was established consisting of bilateral agreements governing the transit of mail within several European countries. Two centuries later, the web of bilateral arrangements between countries had become so complex that it began to impede the rapidly developing trade and commercial sectors.

National postal reforms started the process of bringing order and simplification to the International Postal Services. Probably, the most important of these took place in England in 1840 under the leadership of Sir Towland Hill. Letters were to be prepaid using a uniform rate of one penny in the domestic service for all letter of a certain weight, regardless distance involved.

On the initiative of United States Postmaster-General Montgomery Blair, a conference was held in 1863 in Paris, France, to continue the process of postal reforms at the international level. Further attempts to improve the international postal service on the basis of bilateral agreements during the rest of the 1860s could not keep pace with rapid technological, economic, commercial and cultural developments.

Heinrich von Stephan, a senior post officer from the North of Germany Confederation, then drew up a plan for an international postal union. At his suggestions, the Swiss Government convened In Berne from 15 September 1874, a conference which was attended by representatives from twenty-two nations. On 9 October a day now celebrated throughout the world a s World Postal Day – the Treaty of Berne establishing the “General Postal Union” was signed. Membership in the union grew so quickly that the name was changed in 1878 to “Universal Postal Union”. The Treaty of Berne succeeded in unifying a conflicting international maze of postal services and regulations into a single postal territory for the reciprocal exchange of letter – post items.

The treaty reduced the multitude of rates for mail between the twenty two countries which met in Berne to s single rate for all. Within the single territory, all parties also guaranteed the principle of freedom of transit of letter-post items. The barriers and frontiers, which had impeded the free flow and growth of international mail, had finally been pulled down.

The United Arab Emirates is member country of the UPU Council of Administration for two consecutive sessions from the period of Washington Congress ’89 to Seoul Congress ’94 and till now.