Inter-Governmental Philatelic Corporation
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The Inter-Governmental Philatelic Corporation, or IGPC, is a
philatelic Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. While closely associated with stamp collecting and the study of postage, it is possibl ...
agency that represents over 70 countries in the design, production, and marketing of
postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...
s. It also assists
postal administration This is a list of postal entities by country. It includes: *The governmental authority responsible for postal matters. *The Regulatory agency, regulatory authority for the postal sector. Postal regulation may include the establishment of postal ...
s with the running of their postal services. IGPC claim to produce nearly half of the different postage stamps issued each year but have been criticized for inappropriate and excessive issues.


Legal status

IGPC is a private business, not an
international organisation ''International Organization'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal that covers the entire field of international relations, international affairs. It was established in 1947 and is published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of th ...
. It is run for profit and countries using its services are customers, not members.


Origins

The IGPC was founded by businessman Dr. Manfred Lehmann (1922–1997). Lehmann had taken an interest in the development of newly independent countries in Africa and the Caribbean. The IGPCs first country client was the newly independent
Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
(formerly the colony of Gold Coast) who in 1957 appointed them to help with the distribution of their stamps and the administration of their post offices. The following year
Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...
became a client of IGPC and, later, Caribbean countries too. The fall of communism created more clients for IGPC and by the late 1980s IGPC had over 50 client countries.About IGPC
IGPC, 2003. Retrieved 7 August 2013

/ref> A key development was obtaining the permission of the
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
company to use their cartoon characters on stamps during the 1979
International Year of the Child UNESCO proclaimed 1979 as the International Year of the Child. The proclamation was signed on January 1, 1979, by United Nations Secretary General Kurt Waldheim. A follow-up to the 1959 Declaration of the Rights of the Child, the proclamation ...
. Disney themed stamps have since become an important part of the company's output.


Stamp issues

The IGPC is particularly noted for the issue of stamps featuring popular thematic subjects, cartoon characters and individuals from sport and entertainment that have been criticized as having little connection with the culture or history of the issuing countries. The mass issue of stamps featuring images from American pop culture has even been called a form of
cultural imperialism Cultural imperialism (also cultural colonialism) comprises the culture, cultural dimensions of imperialism. The word "imperialism" describes practices in which a country engages culture (language, tradition, ritual, politics, economics) to creat ...
. Examples of inappropriate issues might be those from
Tuvalu Tuvalu ( ) is an island country in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean, about midway between Hawaii and Australia. It lies east-northeast of the Santa Cruz Islands (which belong to the Solomon Islands), northeast of Van ...
, a small group of Polynesian islands in the South Pacific and an IGPC client, whose stamps have featured the American artist Norman Rockwell and the Chinese New Year. In their own words ''"The New York based philatelic agency was the first to engage in depicting high profile icons and recognized motifs on in order to assist its clients in releasing a new breed of postage stamps, which honor pop culture and sport heroes of the day including Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Pokémon, Popeye, John Lennon, the Walt Disney cartoon characters and classic motion pictures, Jackie Chan, Barbra Streisand, Bob Dylan, Major League Baseball, NFL Superbowl'' (sic)'', and the Sylvester Stallone 'Rocky' motion pictures to name just a few."'' IGPC has replied to charges of inappropriate issues by saying that "''Pop culture stamps are only about 10 percent of what we do, even though they get most of the attention,'' insists Lonnie Ostrow, an I.G.P.C. spokesman. ''The rest are what we call 'definitives' -- the usual flags, flowers, fearless leaders and dead presidents.''" According to IGPC, they employ a research team of over 100 members, and use over 300 freelance stamp artists. IGPC state that they have ''"...a full-time staff of graphic designers and in-house artists who can create a stamp design literally overnight."''


Sponsorship

IGPC has a program of sponsorship of philatelic events and postal services. Thematic stamp shows have been sponsored in the United States in support of one of IGPC's key markets and in 2007 the company provided 12 vehicles to the new
Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...
n post office. In 2006 IGPC had printed the first stamps of Liberia since the end of the civil war.


References

{{reflist


External links


Official websiteArchive of igpci.com at Internet Archive.List of country clients.
Philatelic organizations Philately of Ghana