In 2016, the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission will implement significant changes to its regulations for ocean freight forwarders and non-vessel-operating common carriers, the entities that the Shipping Act and FMC regulations describe as ocean transportation intermediaries. For the first time, FMC will assign expiration dates to OTI licenses. A new three-year license renewal process will be phased-in starting in December 2016. This process will enable FMC to more closely track the 5,000 OTIs it regulates.
The new “OTI license renewal form” has not yet been released, but it will be an on-line process requiring licensed OTIs to reconfirm key details provided in their license applications, including head office and branch office contact details, the names of company shareholders, directors and officers, and details of affiliate companies. Licensees who report changes to these details to FMC as they occur will find the license renewal process easier to satisfy.
NVOCCs outside the U.S. registered with FMC are already required to renew their FMC registrations every three years. This requirement was adopted in October 2013 when FMC created its regulations for the registration of foreign-based unlicensed NVOCCs. These registered NVOCCs will be renewing their FMC registrations for the first time as of October 2016.
The amendment to FMC’s regulations that creates the license renewal process is part of FMC Docket 13-05; it also provides an expedited hearing process for license denials, revocations and suspensions. With this docket, FMC also amended the wording required for all OTI surety bonds, and eliminated the branch-office bonding requirement for licensed OTIs. This means every surety bond on file with FMC must be amended in 2016. It also means licensed OTIs are no longer required to provide an additional $10,000 per branch office. For OTIs with branch offices, this provides a welcome reduction to the annual cost to maintain these bonds.