FMC Dismisses Claim That Firm Mishandled Bamboo Shipment
A Federal Maritime Commission administrative law judge on Dec. 8 dismissed a complaint against non-vessel-operating common carrier Ship4wd, saying Oklahoma-based importer EcoBamboo failed to show that a Shipping Act violation occurred.
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EcoBamboo had accused Ship4wd of failing to properly handle a shipment of bamboo products from Indonesia to the U.S. (see 2509170010). It alleged that Ship4wd didn’t follow fumigation protocol, causing the shipment to be infected with live insects and prompting CBP to deny entry into the U.S. It sought $230,865.51 in reparations if it didn’t recover from the shipment failure and $146,015.51 if it did.
Ship4wd maintained that it arranged for a fumigation to occur in Indonesia, that the infestation was unforeseeable and that it was willing to split the cost with EcoBamboo to refumigate the shipment in the U.S.
The FMC judge granted Ship4wd’s motion to dismiss, saying EcoBamboo failed to show that Ship4wd routinely committed acts or omissions that violated the Shipping Act.
“Even accepting EcoBamboo’s facts as true, at most the complaint raises a disagreement about the terms to which EcoBamboo and Ship4WD agreed to import one container of bamboo, namely, which party would be responsible for costs associated with an unanticipated CBP inspection and refumigation,” the judge wrote. “That disagreement in the context of importing one container does not rise to the level of a practice that is occurring on a normal, customary, or continuous basis.”