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May 1, 1998 |
Oakland, California |
SIGNALS™ provides detailed information on the regulations and activities of the US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), and related developments in the ocean freight industry.
US Senate Approves Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 1998: 71-26 vote for S.414
The US Senate voted April 21 to approve the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 1998 (Senate Bill S.414), without amendment, by a 71-26 margin. The ship reform bill, co-sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS), will now move to the House. An amendment proposed just prior to the vote by Sen. Slade Gorton (R-WA) to allow NVOCC's to enter into confidential contracts with their customers was rejected. Senate Democrats and a majority of Republicans supported the compromise ship reform bill.
The bill has been referred to the US House of Representatives, where a similar version of the bill has yet to be introduced in this Congress. Chances of passage in the House this year appear far from certain.
Key Provisions of the Ship Reform Act:amending the Shipping Act of 1984
- Maintains an independent Federal Maritime Commission (FMC).
- Eliminates public disclosure of service contract rates and charges agreed between vessel operators and shippers, but contracts
will continue to be filed with the FMC. Only the US ports, commodities, volumes and service contract duration will be made available to the public.
- Provides for broader disclosure of additional terms of service contracts to longshore unions for collective bargaining purposes.
- Removes equal access requirements on service contracts for similarity situated shippers (often called the "me too" rule).
- Prohibits conferences and rate agreements from restricting individual tariff and rate actions by member carriers; shortens notice period from not more than 10 days to five days.
- Vessel Operating Common Carriers and NVOCCs must continue to issue public tariffs.
- Eliminates the FMC's "ATFI" tariff filing system, and replaces it with electronic publishing systems approved and monitored by the FMC.
- New assembled automobiles become exempt from FMC tariff publication requirements.
- Effective May 1, 1999, if approved by the US House of Representatives without amendment and signed into law by President Clinton this year.
Will the Ship Reform Act of 1998 Gain Full Approval?
We are monitoring developments in Washington closely, and will keep you posted on actions taken by the US House of Representatives on this legislation. At this time, the House has not placed the bill on its calendar for consideration. Press reports indicate opponents of the bill, and advocates of the amendments offered by Sen. Gorton, will lobby House members and the Clinton Administration for changes to S.414. If the House and/or President Clinton fail to approve or consider the bill this year, the Senate will have to re-introduce it and approve it again next year in the 106th Congress, and it would again move to the House and President Clinton for consideration. The legislative process takes time.
Until the bill is fully approved it has no impact on FMC regulations. There are no regulatory changes currently under consideration by the FMC. The FMC is enforcing the current US shipping law, and all regulations issued pursuant to the law, viz: the Shipping Act of 1984. The current US Federal Government fiscal year ends 30Sep1998; while the US budget for fiscal year 1999 is not yet finalized, the budget proposed by President Clinton includes no changes in funding for FMC for 1999. We expect this budget, and FMC's funding, will be approved shortly.
DPI's Plans for 1999: if the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 1998 becomes law
Many of our clients have asked about our future plans, should Senate Bill S.414 become law in 1999. We can advise as follows: the computer database system operated by Distribution-Publications, Inc. (DPI) will become one of the "electronic publishing systems approved and monitored by the FMC." We will continue to serve our customers. Sometime before the law becomes effective, the FMC will issue tariff publication regulations to replace the current "ATFI" tariff filing regulations. We anticipate these regulations will allow DPI to maintain our customers' tariffs in our computer database. While tariffs will no longer be physically filed with FMC, the terms of S.414 clearly authorize the FMC to suspend or prohibit the use of tariffs that are not published in compliance with FMC regulations. FMC also retains its power to investigate, penalize and fine carriers and forwarders who do not comply with its regulations.
There will be one key change to our operations that will make our service here at DPI more timely. Currently, tariff filing requests from our customers are promptly reviewed by our staff, entered into our database, proofread, and then transmitted to FMC for official filing. Upon receipt of confirmation of filing from FMC, we print tariff pages, and send confirmation messages to our customers. If S.414 becomes law, we will no longer be required to transmit tariff updates to FMC, because FMC will access and monitor our database. We believe this will allow us to forward confirmation of filing/publication to our customers faster than our current procedure. We also plan to offer more options for tariff distribution, viz: tariffs on CD-ROM disks and access to our database via the Internet's World Wide Web.
Index of all SIGNALS™ Issues
SIGNALS™ is provided as a service to its customers by Distribution-Publications, Inc. © 1999. All rights reserved.
"Navigating the Regulatory Seas" is a service mark of Distribution-Publications, Inc.
The information contained herein is obtained from reliable sources. It is subject to change at any time, however, depending on changes in laws and regulations. While we continually attempt to monitor this information, we do not guarantee its accuracy and are not responsible for any damages suffered by any party in reliance on it.
Distribution-Publications, Inc.
A General Steamship Company
7996 Capwell Drive, Oakland, CA 94621
Tel: 510-635-7202, or 800-204-3622,
Fax: 510-635-3133,
SIGNALS™ the newsletter of Distribution-Publications, Inc.
Vol. 2, No. 1, May 1, 1998