The Federal Maritime Commission will convene six supply chain innovation teams to find improvements in the container return and delivery process at marine terminals, the FMC said Nov. 17. The announcement, made by Commissioner Rebecca Dye this week, is aimed at “improving conditions” at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in California and at the Port of New York and New Jersey. The teams will be composed of ocean carrier executives and marine terminal operators.

A new effort by the Federal Maritime Commission will examine how “data constraints” are impeding ocean cargo flow and slowing U.S. supply chains, the FMC announced Nov. 15. The effort, which Commissioner Carl Bentzel will lead, will eventually propose recommendations for “common data standards” used by the international shipping supply chains as well as new policies that could “streamline information sharing,” the FMC said.

The Federal Maritime Commission is investigating whether Hapag-Lloyd violated Shipping Act regulations by imposing unfair detention fees on containers that couldn’t be returned to a terminal, the FMC said in a notice released Nov. 16. The commission said Hapag-Lloyd, A.G. and Hapag-Lloyd (America) LLC may have imposed unreasonable or unjust charges on containers “when return locations with corresponding appointments were unavailable,” the FMC said. The investigation order was formally served Nov. 10. Hapag-Lloyd didn’t comment.

The trade imbalance at U.S. ports has widened in recent months, as heavy congestion from record imports has continued to cause issues for U.S. exporters, the Federal Maritime Commission’s Bureau of Trade Analysis said this week. As U.S. consumer demand picks up for the holidays, the BTA suggested exporters are seeing more delays and less opportunities to ship their goods.

The U.S. should closely review the planned acquisition of Ports America by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which would cede U.S. control over the largest terminal operator in North America, the Federal Maritime Commission said in a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. The acquisition would allow minority investor CPP Investments to hold “exclusive interest in a strategic United States enterprise,” the FMC said, and could allow Canada to increase diversion of U.S.-bound cargo through Canadian ports.

The Biden administration will allow increased flexibility for existing port grants and support new pop-up container yards for the Port of Savannah as part of a new Biden-Harris Action Plan for America’s Ports and Waterways announced in a fact sheet Nov. 9. The plan “will mobilize federal agencies and lay the foundation for successful implementation of the historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal,” which includes $17 billion in funding to improve supply chain infrastructure, the White House said.

The Federal Maritime Commission is accepting applications to fill a vacant spot on its recently formed National Shipper Advisory Committee, the FMC said in a notice released Nov. 2. The commission “excused” one committee member in September after the person changed jobs, which “altered the balance of the Committee,” the FMC said. The committee must be composed equally of importers and exporters. FMC is accepting applications, due Nov. 17, from an “entity who imports cargo to the United States using ocean common carriers.” The committee membership was announced Sept. 9, and it held its first meeting last month, when members said a new surcharge imposed by two California ports could severely exacerbate unfair detention and demurrage fees (see 2110280031).

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for Oct. 25-29 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

Shippers were caught off guard by a new surcharge announced this week by the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports that could exacerbate unfair detention and demurrage fees, members of the Federal Maritime Commission’s Shipper Advisory Committee said. The ports announced a surcharge to ocean carriers for containers that dwell at terminals, a fee that will likely be passed on to shippers, members said during the committee’s inaugural meeting Oct. 27 (see 2109100008 and ​​2110140001).

The Federal Maritime Commission on Oct. 27 will hold the inaugural meeting of the National Shipper Advisory Commission, which was established earlier this year to advise the FMC on shipping competitiveness and fairness in the ocean freight delivery system (see 2106080005). During the virtual meeting, scheduled for 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. EDT, members from the export and import community will, among other items on the agenda, elect a chair and vice chair, and “discuss issues related to ongoing supply chain congestion issues,” the FMC said this week. The meeting will be held about a month after the FMC approved recommendations to address ocean freight delivery and port issues (see 2109150035).