Most people have ‘to-do’ lists, but I am in the rare position of having my ‘to-do’ list written by both parties in Congress and signed by the President of the United States. The Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 lays out specifically what must be done (complete with deadlines) to ensure proper implementation, and the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) is proceeding forward on our mission. For example, in recent years, carriers and terminal operators have sometimes abused detention and demurrage charges that — according to the interpretive rule authored by Commissioner Rebecca Dye — should always act as an incentive to move cargo. Because many shippers now feel they will be charged no matter what, the charges don’t provide the incentive to move cargo more efficiently and may even aggravate congestion. The FMC is putting rules in place to ensure these charges are properly assessed and carriers or multimodal transport operators (MTOs) in violation of the law are held accountable.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the intense shifts in demand for ocean shipping revealed weaknesses in our ocean cargo system, and the FMC is doing its part to shore up the supply chain system and ensure fair treatment of US importers and exporters. Enforcement is key. With only nine large carriers dominating the oceans, the FMC must remain vigilant to ensure competition and integrity in the market and set a robust deterrent to breaking the rules.
Helping exporters — especially agricultural exporters — remains a top priority. The FMC will ensure, consistent with OSRA, that no exporter is unreasonably denied vessel space. Complementing these efforts, the FMC’s Vessel-Operating Common Carrier (VOCC) Audit Program will continue assessing how the largest ocean carriers are serving exporters and help facilitate adoption of VOCC policies to increase export carriage.