FprCEN/TS 17217

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-september-2024
Poštne storitve - Povratna ovojnica - Zahteve za oblikovanje in tiskanje
Postal services - Reverse envelope - Design and printing requirements
Postalische Dienstleistungen - Briefumschlag mit rückseitiger Adressierung -
Anforderungen an Ausführung und Druck
Services postaux - Enveloppe inversée - Exigences de conception et d'impression
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: FprCEN/TS 17217
ICS:
03.240 Poštne storitve Postal services
85.080.10 Pisarniški papir Office paper
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

FINAL DRAFT
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION
SPÉCIFICATION TECHNIQUE
TECHNISCHE SPEZIFIKATION
June 2024
ICS 85.080.10 Will supersede CEN/TS 17217:2018
English Version
Postal services - Reverse envelope - Design and printing
requirements
Services postaux - Enveloppe inversée - Exigences de Postalische Dienstleistungen - Briefumschlag mit
conception et d'impression rückseitiger Adressierung - Anforderungen an
Ausführung und Druck
This draft Technical Specification is submitted to CEN members for Vote. It has been drawn up by the Technical Committee
CEN/TC 331.
CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and
United Kingdom.
Recipients of this draft are invited to submit, with their comments, notification of any relevant patent rights of which they are
aware and to provide supporting documentation.

Warning : This document is not a Technical Specification. It is distributed for review and comments. It is subject to change
without notice and shall not be referred to as a Technical Specification.

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2024 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. FprCEN/TS 17217:2024 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

Contents Page
European foreword . 3
1 Scope . 5
2 Normative references . 5
3 Terms and definitions . 5
4 Physical properties . 6
4.1 Envelope format . 6
4.2 Thickness . 6
4.3 Flap location . 6
4.4 Flap shape and dimensions . 6
4.5 Throat shape and dimensions . 6
4.6 Coefficient of friction (static) . 7
4.7 Paper background and reflectance . 7
4.8 Address window location . 7
5 Printing requirements . 7
5.1 Printing of addresses . 7
5.2 Advertising and communication . 7
6 Manufacturing requirements . 8
6.1 Paper weight . 8
6.2 Sealing gum . 8
6.3 Side seams . 8
6.4 Window material and assembly . 8
6.5 Applying of postage stamps . 9
Annex A (normative) Envelope design and layout . 10
Annex B (informative) National examples of reverse envelope and window location . 12
Bibliography . 15
European foreword
This document (FprCEN/TS 17217:2024) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC “Postal
services”, the secretariat of which is held by AFNOR.
This document is currently submitted to the Vote on TS.
This document supersedes CEN/TS 17217:2018.
Introduction
This document will serve as a reference for large or small mailers willing to benefit from the enhanced
marketing capabilities offered by the reverse envelope, without compromising the reliability and cost of
the mail preparation, and the envelope manufacturers willing to supply them.
Except for bulk mailings (>100K), batches of reverse envelopes are typically in the range of 2K to 20K.
Reverse envelopes are likely to be handled in high end desktop and production mail inserters. Both
permit mail and franking are applicable. Reverse envelopes are processed by designated operators in
existing sorting machines. Envelope and equipment manufacturers have participated in the development
of this document, through the design, production and testing of a large batch of envelopes.
As the materials used to manufacture and print on reverse envelopes are basically the same as for existing
envelopes, no specific environmental impact is expected. However, consumer associations representing
the recipients of the printed advertising or communication may be consulted.
Despite a general decrease in letter volumes across Europe, promotional mail is resisting and even
growing in some countries, as it is still perceived as one of the most effective media to communicate
directly with consumers. Moreover, physical mail becomes triggered by Internet sales or inquiries and
benefits indirectly from the expansion of e-commerce. The reverse envelope is a means to make letters
more appealing to customers by using the full plain face for advertising and communication.
Reverse envelopes already exist in various countries, with windows on either side. Postage marks are
printed on the flap. Because the address is on the same side, the content is inserted upside-down. This
has many implications and potential drawbacks for the manufacturing, inserting, addressing, franking
and sorting. The challenges are predominantly experienced during the fulfilment phase.
Reverse envelopes are currently processed by several designated operators in Europe but are not
standardized. The purpose of this document is to define a set of physical properties and manufacturing
requirements for reverse envelopes in order to guarantee the proper insertion of mail, the printing of
addresses and postage marks on the flap side, and the sorting of letters in existing equipment.
1 Scope
This document covers physical properties and manufacturing requirements for envelopes having an
address window and the flap on the front side once the flap has been sealed, hereafter the flap side. It
covers the main design features of the reverse envelope, notably of the flap and address window, and the
materials used for the manufacturing thereof. It applies to reverse envelopes with advertising or
communication printed on the plain side, eventually on its entire surface.
This document covers empty envelopes, but also finished mailpieces that have been properly inserted,
addressed and franked (reverse mailpieces) and are submitted to Postal Operators. In particular, reverse
mailpieces will be compliant with relevant Postal standards applicable in the member states.
By extension, these requirements also apply to non-window envelopes used for reverse mailpieces and
having the address printed on the flap side.
This document does not apply to:
— envelopes with a large window on the plain side (opposite to the flap) as these are already common
and widely accepted,
— paper requirements to ensure print quality (except for the postage mark and address) and notably
colour rendering.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
UPU S19a, Encoding on envelopes — Placement area definitions — Part A: General concepts and definition
of the coordinate system — October 2008
UPU S19d, Encoding on envelopes — Placement area definitions — Part D: Areas used for the printing of
addresses and associated customer applied encoding — October 2008
EN 13619, Postal services — Mail item processing — Optical characteristics for processing letters
EN 14615, Postal services — Digital postage marks — Applications, security and design
CEN/TS 14826, Postal services — Automatic identification of items — Two dimensional bar code symbol
print quality specification for machine readable Digital Postage Marks
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— IEC Electropedia: available at https://www.electropedia.org/
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https://www.iso.org/obp
3.1
reverse envelope
envelope having an address window, or the address printed, on the flap side
3.2
reverse mailpiece
mailpiece using a reverse envelope or a mailpiece having the address printed on the flap side
3.3
window envelope
envelope having a transparent window to show the address through
4 Physical properties
4.1 Envelope format
DL 110x220 mm
C6/5 114x229 (&x235) mm
C5 162x229 (&x235, &x240) mm
DL or C6/5 format envelopes compatible with the requirements of this document are illustrated in
Annex A.
NOTE Smaller, and larger envelopes such as C4/C4+ are not covered by this document.
4.2 Thickness
For complete mail piece after insertion:
— up to 5 mm (max).
Paper thickness:
— not specified (consistent with weight specification).
4.3 Flap location
The flap shall be located at the top of the envelope as defined by UPU S19a.
4.4 Flap shape and dimensions
The flap shall cover the entire UPU postage mark area, except for a small clearance on the right side, so
that the postage mark can be printed entirely thereon, thus the height of the flap shall be equal to 40 mm.
The angle on the edges of the flap shall be equal to 10° and the radius at the corners equal to 4 mm.
The flap shall have a vertical negative or null curvature (slightly concave or flat) when folded down.
4.5 Throat shape and dimensions
The throat shall overlap with the flap at least 20 mm. The bottom of the throat shall be a straight line
located at a distance of 18 mm to 20 mm from the crease, except on the sides where the throat reaches
the corners with an angle of 20°, consistent with a width of around 50 mm to 55 mm on both sides.
Alternatively, the bottom of the throat may be a straight line running across substantially the whole
envelope width. This shape minimizes paper waste during the manufacturing process. However, the
testing of such reverse envelopes was not satisfactory on all inserters.
4.6 Coefficient of friction (static)
The static coefficient of friction between opposite sides of the envelope shall be less than 0.6 whether the
plain side is printed or not. This applies also to finished reverse mailpieces after sealing.
4.7 Paper background and reflectance
The paper should be preferably of a light or pastel colour, compatible with the printing and reading of
postage marks, notably digital postage marks according to EN 14615 and CEN/TS 14826.
The symbol contrast shall be compliant with the national requirements of the country of o
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