Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for Nov. 15-19 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
A Senate bill would authorize several recommendations recently made by the Federal Maritime Commission to address issues in the international freight delivery system, including unfair detention and demurrage fees. The bill, introduced last week, would also seek to standardize shipping terminology among port users and require the government to produce more statistics on equipment dwell times.
The White House, in a blog post that noted some wins for easing port congestion, said Congress should provide the Federal Maritime Commission with "an updated toolbox to protect exporters, importers, and consumers from unfair practices." It said that the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, a bipartisan bill introduced in the House in August (see 2108100011), "includes good first steps towards the type of longer-term reform to shipping laws that would strengthen America’s global competitiveness."
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).