SIGNALS™ provides detailed information on the regulations and activities of the US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), and related developments in the ocean freight industry. For past issues, please consult our index.

Commissioner Mario Cordero Leaving FMC for Port of Long Beach

Commissioner Mario Cordero will depart the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) this month to accept the job of Executive Director of the Port of Long Beach, California. In his new position, Mr. Cordero will be responsible for daily leadership of the Nation’s second busiest container port.

“Commissioner Cordero is an excellent choice to lead the Port of Long Beach and I am pleased for my friend’s latest professional success,” stated Acting FMC Chairman Michael Khouri. “He understands the criticality of transportation and trade to the strength of national economic competitiveness. I have every confidence he will work tirelessly on behalf of the Port of Long Beach, its tenants, and all those who depend upon that facility to move their goods.”

A native of southern California, Mr. Cordero began his service on the Federal Maritime Commission in June 2011. In April 2013, he was designated by President Obama as the FMC Chairman, a position he held until January of this year when President Trump designated Mr. Michael Khouri as Acting Chairman. Since January, Mr. Cordero has again served as a Commissioner. Prior to his service on the Commission, Mr. Cordero was a Commissioner on the Port of Long Beach Harbor Commission and an attorney in private practice.

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FMC Acting Chairman Michael Khouri Testifies Before House Sub Committee

Acting Chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission Michael Khouri testified recently before a subcommittee of the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure where he outlined the state of the international container shipping sector, key policy issues before the Commission, what his priorities will be as Acting Chairman in general, and more specifically, how he will work to ease regulatory burdens on industry.

In the course of his prepared remarks, Acting Chairman Khouri covered a number of topics under the jurisdiction of the Federal Maritime Commission, starting with a report on action the Commission took on March 6, 2017, to update its regulations pertaining to service contracts and NVOCC Service Arrangements eliminating a number of burdensome regulatory requirements that served as obstacles to efficient ocean transportation arrangements, added unnecessary transactional costs and served no regulatory purpose. He provided an interpretation of market conditions as well as the recent merger, acquisition, and bankruptcy activity that has taken place in the shipping industry resulting in a contraction of the number of ocean carriers in operation, as well as a reordering of the carrier alliance system.

In his remarks to the subcommittee, Acting Chairman Khouri noted the FMC continues to faithfully pursue the purposes and mission of the Shipping Act that has been in place for 100 years. In its First Annual Report, published on December 1, 1917, a total of 83 employees were listed on the payroll of FMC’s predecessor agency, the United States Shipping Board. Today, a century later, with a vastly larger domestic economy and global trade, the Commission has only 127 employees working to maintain a competitive ocean transportation services marketplace that moves billions of dollars in commerce representing about one-third of America’s Gross Domestic Product.

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Transpacific Eastbound Carriers File General Rate Increases (GRIs) Effective June 1, 2017

Several carrier members of the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (TSA), FMC Agreement No. 011223 serving the East Asia/USA trade lanes (U.S. Imports) file General Rate Increases (GRIs) effective June 1, 2017. Carrier members American President Lines (APL), CMA CGM, and Hyundai filed GRIs of USD 1000 per FEU. COSCO, Evergreen, and Yang Ming filed GRIs of USD 800 per FEU in their respective FMC tariffs. OOCL filed GRIs of USD 600 per FEU. Hapag Lloyd filed GRIs of USD 700 per FEU.

K Line and NYK are no longer carrier members, but filed similar GRIs in their respective FMC tariffs. K Line filed GRIs of USD 800 per FEU, and NYK filed USD 1000 per FEU for effective June 1.

GRI amounts for all other container sizes are as per formula. For some carriers, this June GRI will be the seventh GRI of 2017 for the East Asia/USA trade lane.

The TSA Carrier group only issues recommended guidelines to its member carriers. The group's web site at www.tsacarriers.org provides additional information; however, each carrier maintains its own tariffs and controls its own pricing.

The TSA's 10 member carriers are: American President Lines, CMA CGM, COSCO Container Lines, Evergreen Marine, Hapag-Lloyd AG, Hyundai Merchant Marine, Maersk Line, Mediterranean Shipping, OOCL, and Yang Ming Marine.

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