The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) published a new webpage devoted to the implementation of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022. It catalogs the FMC’s actions to meet the requirements of the new law and will be updated regularly.
The Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 was signed into law in June. It’s a major step forward for one of AAEI’s top trade priorities. It provides the FMC with greater authority and rulemaking ability over certain practices by international ocean shipping companies, such as detention and demurrage fees and services offered to U.S. exporters. The new rules on the container shipping industry would be the first since 1984. For U.S. exporters, the legislation would prohibit ocean carriers from unreasonably declining export opportunities as determined by the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC).
FMC Chairman Daniel B. Maffei said in a statement, “OSRA 2022 is now law and the [FMC] intends to act expeditiously to implement both the letter and the spirit of the Act. Establishing a resource where the public can easily and quickly see all relevant materials related to OSRA implementation is critical to keeping all interested constituencies informed of progress the Commission is making in meeting the mandates established by the Congress and the President.”
Among the FMC actions so far:
- Public Comment request on the necessity of issuing an emergency order requiring common carriers and marine terminal operators to share key information with shippers, truckers, and railroads
- Public Comment request on a proposed plan for gathering import and export information from VOCCs calling the United States
- Development of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Unreasonable Refusal to Deal or Negotiate on Vessel Space Accommodations
- Establishing an interim process for submitting Charge Complaints
- Prioritized enforcement activity through the establishment of the Bureau of Enforcement, Investigations, and Compliance
- Placing the trade on notice that self-executing provisions of OSRA are effective immediately
- Placing the trade on notice that common carriers are required to immediately comply with the self-executing provisions of OSRA on detention and demurrage billing practices
- Publishing the Fact Finding 29 Final Report
