President Joe Biden, speaking at the Port of Los Angeles, praised the collaborative work of port officials and workers and the government to break through logjams, and partly blamed foreign-owned shipping companies for rising prices.

The Federal Maritime Commission this week approved a $2 million settlement agreement with Hapag-Lloyd for alleged shipping violations involving the company’s detention and demurrage practices. Hapag-Lloyd also agreed to take several steps to improve its billing practices, including posting an updated tariff policy to its website, conducting a “training session” on the FMC’s detention and demurrage rule for all employees involved in billing, and publishing on its website a “complete list of locations that it has authorized to accept empty Hapag-Lloyd containers.”

The Federal Maritime Commission this week announced three new initiatives it hopes will aid shippers and address supply chain issues, including one that will establish a new International Ocean Shipping Supply Chain Program and another that will reestablish the commission’s Export Rapid Response Team. The FMC will also “take the steps necessary” for carriers and marine terminal operators to employ a designated FMC compliance officer.

The Federal Maritime Commission’s FMC-18 form is “currently experiencing issues,” the commission said in a June 6 notice. The FMC said it’s “working on a solution” for the glitch in the application to become an ocean transportation intermediary.

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Commissioner Rebeccca Dye of the Federal Maritime Commission this week released the final report stemming from a two-year investigation of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the international ocean freight delivery system, which includes a dozen new recommendations to address supply chain and maritime logistics issues. The report, previewed by Dye last month (see 2205180056), has recommendations for mandatory FMC compliance officers, a clearer process for returning containers and a new investigation into carrier charges assessed through tariffs.

While most carriers that participated in the first round of the Federal Maritime Commission’s recent export audit have commendable export strategies, others have room for improvement, FMC official Lucille Marvin said. “I think that there is some work to do," Marvin told commissioners during a May 18 meeting. “The location of the exports, the location of the equipment -- none of this stuff is always in sync with each other. I think this is going to be an ongoing challenge that we have.”

The Federal Maritime Commission should require all ocean carriers and marine terminals to hire dedicated compliance officers, establish a clearer process for returning containers and launch a new investigation into carrier charges assessed through tariffs, Commissioner Rebecca Dye said. Dye, delivering a new set of recommendations during a May 18 FMC meeting, also said the commission should create a carrier-focused advisory committee and do more to support U.S. agricultural exports.

The Federal Maritime Commission is seeking comments on potential changes to its rules for Carrier Automated Tariffs, including whether carrier tariffs should be available “free of charge” and if the definition of co-loading should be revised to apply only to “less than container loads.” Other proposed changes described in the rule, released May 9, would allow non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCCs) to “cross reference certain aspects of other carriers’ terms in their tariffs,” clarify NVOCCs’ ability to “reflect increases in certain charges passed-through by other entities without notice,” require that documentation must be annotated with the names of all NVOCCs involved in a shipping transaction, and “make other miscellaneous updates and clarifications.”

The Federal Maritime Commission needs cooperation from the trade and logistics community to engage in meaningful enforcement, FMC Chairman Daniel Maffei said. Speaking last week at the annual National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America conference, Maffei said that he has been frustrated that "a lot of people expect the FMC to intervene on the side of small shippers" and don't understand the limits of the commission's authority.