Ocean Carriers Have 2 Months to Report Export Strategies to FMC
Ocean carriers must begin filing annual export strategies and policies with the Federal Maritime Commission starting March 1 as part of a broader effort by the FMC to better regulate carriers that unfairly refuse vessel or cargo space to exporters.
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Those export strategies must include information on the types of services offered by the carrier, the markets they service, their pricing strategies and the equipment they provide. The strategies must also be “prospective in nature, providing clear information to the Commission about how ocean carriers will serve the U.S. export market,” the FMC said.
The March effective date, announced by the FMC Dec. 31, comes about five months after the commission finalized new regulations on unreasonable carrier conduct, which outlines how the FMC will assess whether a carrier violated the commission’s regulations in declining to provide vessel space (see 2407220019). The rule also set a new requirement to force vessel operating common carriers to file an annual export policy with the FMC, although the rule didn’t list an effective date for that new requirement at the time.
The commission said carriers need to file their first export strategies on or before March 1, and subsequent reports must be filed on or before March 1 each year after. They should cover “the time period until the next policy is due for submission,” the FMC said, adding that carriers may file updated versions “more frequently as needed,” including multiple per year “if circumstances warrant.”
Ocean carriers had objected to the new requirement, telling the FMC in public comments in 2023 that it would create a “significant administrative burden” and put them at a “significant competitive disadvantage,” especially if any of their critical export-related business information or plans were publicly disclosed and seen by rival carriers (see 2308030052). The FMC said in its July final rule that the carriers’ export strategies would remain confidential.
The World Shipping Council, which represents many of the world’s major ocean carriers, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.