The Federal Maritime Commission published its fall 2022 regulatory agenda, including mentions of several rules surrounding carrier practices, billing requirements and discriminatory shipping practices that it had hoped to issue in December. At least one of the rules was governed by a statutory deadline set for last month under the Ocean Shipping Reform Act.
The Federal Maritime Commission denied a Chinese freight forwarder’s motion to dismiss a complaint that said the forwarder delayed 20 container shipments in order to submit higher detention and demurrage invoices (see 2210250021). The FMC’s chief administrative law judge Jan. 4 ordered China-based Shenzhen Unifelix to submit a response to the complaint by Jan. 20, requiring the company to also answer charges levied by U.S.-based Way Interglobal Network that Unifelix tried to change the terms of a signed service contract.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top 20 stories published in 2022. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference numbers.
Hong Kong-based Sterling Container Line denied allegations by U.S. logistics company SeaFair that it refused to pay for certain shipping services, saying SeaFair at times submitted inaccurate invoices and couldn’t prove they were correct. In a Dec. 26 response to the Federal Maritime Commission, Sterling said the FMC should dismiss SeaFair’s complaint for a range of reasons, including that the commission lacks the authority to award damages for a breach of contract claim.
Hapag-Lloyd violated U.S. shipping regulations when it failed to make containers available for pickup, causing demurrage charges for Wisconsin-based logistics company M.E. Dey to exceed more than $136,000, the company said in a complaint to the Federal Maritime Commission released last week. Dey said Hapag-Lloyd’s demurrage charges were “unreasonable,” and the FMC should require the ocean carrier to pay Dey reparations.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Shippers mostly supported the Federal Maritime Commission’s proposal for demurrage and detention billing requirements (see 2210070079 and 2203250028), saying in comments this month the new invoice requirements will bring more transparency to the industry. But at least two carriers continued to lobby for revisions to the proposed requirements, saying they could lead to burdensome new rules and wouldn’t result in more efficient container pickups and returns.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Hong Kong-based Sterling Container Line violated U.S. shipping regulations when it refused to pay Florida-based SeaFair USA for its “document turnover” services for shipments carried under Sterling’s house bills of lading, SeaFair said in a Dec. 15 complaint to the Federal Maritime Commission. SeaFair said Sterling owes it more than $400,000 and asked the FMC to order Sterling to pay reparations and “cease and desist” from their “unlawful conduct.”
The Federal Maritime Commission has begun a probe to examine how top shipping lines are complying with new restrictions on retaliation, the commission said this week. The FMC’s Vessel-Operating Common Carrier Audit Team has asked the top 20 shipping lines calling the U.S. to provide information on how they are complying with Section 5 of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, which prohibits carriers, marine terminals or ocean transportation intermediaries from retaliating against shippers by refusing them cargo space. The shipping lines have until mid-January to provide a response, the FMC said.