Transport, trade and regulation

Richard Lidinsky, a former chairman for the US Federal Maritime Commission, leaves a legacy of agency reform whose work echoes through the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022.

The FMC is attempting to define when it’s reasonable for ocean carriers to refuse export cargo, but some shippers say the agency is making it too easy for that to happen.

The German Federal Cartel Office argues that large container carriers do not satisfy “with a sufficient degree of certainty” the conditions required for their exemption from European competition law.

Of the 12 projects the US Department of Transportation is funding, 11 will receive support for developing container-on-barge services.

The FMC-sponsored study comes as the ultra-tight supply of chassis in the US has been a contributing factor in port and rail congestion for well over a year.

Claims by shippers that the European block exemption was dampening market competition are “at odds with reality,” ocean carriers have told European regulators.

An Indiana-based shipper alleges it tried to resolve incomplete invoice issues directly with Flexport, but says the NVO failed to provide necessary information and withheld additional containers.

With US maritime reform now on the books, the head of the FMC says Congress is paying close attention to the end-to-end supply chain beyond ocean carriers.

While US ports would operate their own data system through the FMC’s Marine Transportation Data Initiative, the agency would standardize what data needs to be shared and when.

Mediterranean Shipping Co. maintains it cannot produce discovery in an FMC complaint stemming back to July 2021 because of Swiss law and is now disputing a judge’s determination to issue default judgment.

Sustainability ambitions from the world’s largest cargo owners are ramping up pressure on carriers to accelerate their transition to zero-carbon fuels or risk losing high-volume business in the coming decades.

Half of the complaints are under investigation by the FMC while the other half of submissions were denied for timing, insufficient information, or misalignment with the complaint process.

A majority of respondents support the FMC emergency data sharing order, but container lines and other groups believe port congestion is improving and, therefore, does constitute an "emergency."

A new data element mandated by the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 in June hasn’t changed the score for importers that struggle with the pressure of retrieving containers while disputing demurrage charges.

The FMC’s emergency order on data sharing would seek to alleviate port congestion by requiring more visibility into appointment availability, empty container return times, and terminal closures.

A mandated “container available” data element related to demurrage fees is largely not being complied with yet as the shipping industry grapples with the immediate implications of OSRA-22.

The complaint to the Federal Maritime Commission is the latest made by a shipper against a major carrier following OSRA-22 being signed into law in June.

The HOS exemption has been extended five times since it was put in place in 2020 by a presidential emergency order, and it has been modified as the pandemic evolved.

Rolled cargo complaints have come up several times this year before the FMC after heavy pandemic-induced demand in late 2020 into 2021 overwhelmed available vessel capacity.

Yang Ming has been hit twice this year with complaints from importers alleging the carrier failed to honor capacity commitments.

While the FMC seeks input over whether to declare an emergency need for information sharing by container lines, the agency’s advisory committee has suggested setting up a parallel carrier group to improve dialogue.

Maritime regulators are wrestling with how to refine rulemaking on when it is unreasonable for carriers to refuse export bookings, writes JOC Executive Editor Mark Szakonyi.

The call for export and import data comes as small- and medium-sized US agricultural exporters complain that their cargo has been largely ignored by carriers over the past three years.

Despite the FMC finding there was no collusion among ocean shipping alliances causing elevated freight rates, NITL believes there are still concerns about the industry that new antitrust legislation could address.

The reorganization within the FMC comes as the agency steps up its enforcement and compliance activities in the wake of US shipping reform.

The complaint brought by a New York-based food importer is the latest in a string of detention and demurrage cases the FMC has investigated of late.

Ten days after the US Federal Maritime Commission told shippers they no longer need to pay a filing fee or retain a lawyer to submit a complaint, shippers have already begun taking advantage of the updated process.

Pressure is mounting on European regulators to conduct a review of container shipping’s block exemption from competition law.

A range of US importers are at risk of violating new regulations over the involvement of forced labor in the goods they import, leading Maersk and technology vendor Altana AI to partner in a program to help shippers identify that risk.

The complaint comes one month after OSRA-22 became law, giving the FMC additional funding to hire more staff to increase monitoring of the container shipping industry.

After three years of appeals failed to stop AB5, California legislators are calling on Gov. Gavin Newsom to take any action he can to further delay the worker classification law or exempt truckers from it.

Competition watchdogs in key Asian jurisdictions are extending antitrust exemptions for the vessel-sharing agreements of ocean carriers, but trimming the validity period of those exemptions.

Hot on the heels of major shipping reform signed into law, two California Congressmen have introduced a bill that would incentivize vessels to carry US ag exports or call multiple US ports.

Amid ongoing complaints that shippers can’t move cargo or return empties, new US shipping rules are enforcing when carriers can levy detention and demurrage fees.

The next logical step in reforming US shipping law – the elimination of ocean carriers’ antitrust immunity – was briefly proposed earlier this year, but shot down due to its potential impact on carriers’ ability to operate within alliances.

The head of the Federal Maritime Commission said his agency is ready to enforce new US shipping reform aimed at monitoring carrier behavior around container use charges and export slots.

The White House says US shipping reform will help corral inflation by easing port congestion and more closely monitoring ocean carriers, claims disputed by OSRA-22 opponents.

President Joe Biden has promised to sign ocean shipping reform legislation, but the bill won’t do anything to address US port and inland congestion or the record freight rates he’s railed against.

President Joe Biden visited the Port of Los Angeles to take ocean carriers to task while stumping for final Congressional approval of major US shipping law reform.

US container shipping regulators are signaling measured moves aimed at providing more structure to commercial exchanges without stepping directly into them, writes JOC Executive Editor Mark Szakonyi.