The Federal Maritime Commission is proposing to modernize and clarify some requirements associated with the filing of marine terminal operator schedules, the FMC said Sept. 21. The proposed changes are “non-policy related” and are intended to update “outdated” requirements while making the “existing requirements and definitions consistent with other parts” of the FMC’s regulations. The changes include a clarification to the definition of “bulk cargo,” a revision to the definition of “marine terminal operator,” and a removal of other “unnecessary language relating to accessing electronically published MTO schedules.” Comments are due Nov. 22.

The Federal Maritime Commission approved some recommendations made by Commissioner Rebecca Dye in July to address ocean freight delivery and port issues (see 2107290021), the commission said Sept. 25. Under one recommendation, the FMC will issue a “policy statement” to provide guidance to shippers seeking to obtain reparations for violations of the Shipping Act, including unfair detention and demurrage fees. The statement will provide guidance on the “scope of the prohibition against carrier retaliation,” when attorney fees may be imposed on the losing party, and who may file a complaint with the FMC.

Despite recent steps by the White House and the Federal Maritime Commission to address supply chain issues hampering agricultural exporters, the problems are worsening, trade groups said this week. Carriers are increasingly declining or canceling export bookings, ship delays are backlogging orders by months and agricultural exporters are seeing steep drops in revenue due to continually rising container costs, 76 trade associations said.

The Federal Maritime Commission announced the 24 members of its newly formed Shipper Advisory Committee, which will advise FMC on issues in the ocean freight delivery system (see 2106080005). The group -- which includes representatives from Walmart, Target, Ikea, Tyson Foods and Brenntag -- is composed evenly of importers and exporters, the commission said Sept. 9. Members will serve until Dec. 31, 2024. FMC Chairman Daniel Maffei said the shipper committee will give the FMC “rapid access to the perspectives of importers and exporters on the ground dealing with the realities of ocean shipping every day,” adding that their perspective will be “invaluable.”

The Federal Maritime Commission met virtually with the European Union and China this week to discuss competition issues affecting the shipping industry, including disruptions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. Officials discussed bottlenecks in the ocean-linked supply chain, how they each have responded to those challenges and “possible actions” to help the shipping industry. “Today’s session of the Global Regulatory Summit provided key competition authorities responsible for the oversight of the container shipping industry the opportunity to share information about what their respective monitoring and enforcement regimes are observing in the marketplace and compare conclusions about carrier behavior,” FMC Chairman Daniel Maffei said.

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for Aug. 2-6 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

More than 80 agricultural trade groups are endorsing a bipartisan House bill they say would address unreasonable detention and demurrage practices and ocean carriers’ refusal to carry U.S. exports in favor of imports. The Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2021, introduced Aug. 10 by Reps. John Garamendi, D-Calif., and Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., aims to support the “growth” of exporters by holding carriers accountable for their unfair fees and declined export bookings, according to a fact sheet from the Agriculture Transportation Coalition.

The Federal Maritime Commission is investigating the surcharge practices of eight ocean carriers after receiving industry complaints that the carriers have “improperly” imposed fees, the commission said Aug. 4. The carriers -- CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, HMM, Matson, MSC, OOCL, SM Line and Zim -- have until Aug. 13 to respond to questions by the FMC’s Bureau of Enforcement and to “provide details that confirm any surcharges were instituted properly and in accordance with legal and regulatory obligations.”

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for July 26-30 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

The Federal Maritime Commission this week issued a series of long-awaited recommendations to address issues in the international freight delivery system that have been exacerbated over the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The recommendations, which resulted from Commissioner Rebecca Dye’s fact-finding mission that began in March 2020, aim to minimize barriers to Shipping Act enforcement and better allow the FMC to “facilitate prompt and fair dispute resolution,” Dye said July 28.