All ocean freight forwarders and NVOCCs licensed by the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) to operate in the USA as Ocean Transportation Intermediaries (OTIs) will be required to comply with a new license renewal process scheduled to commence in mid-2017. This was scheduled to be implemented this month, but has been delayed. Upon successful completion of the renewal process, the FMC will issue a new license certificate bearing a renewal date three years later on the same day and month on which the license was originally issued.

In November 2015, the FMC voted to issue a final rule to amend its ocean transportation intermediary licensing and financial responsibility requirements. This implemented the rule making process for FMC Docket 13-05. Except for the new requirement to renew OTI licenses every three years, this amendment to FMC’s regulations became effective on December 9, 2015. The FMC has been upgrading and testing its online systems to support the new online license renewal process. The adjusted target start date for the license renewal process is now February 2017; this is start date, not a deadline.

The license renewal process will begin with emails FMC will send to a group of licensees who will be required to complete the process by May 31, 2017. In total, nearly 5,000 licensed OTIs operating the USA will be required to complete the license renew process, but license renewal deadlines will be spread over a three-year period. Due to this, many licensed OTIs will not begin the process until 2018 or 2019. General guidance on this license renewal schedule is provided on the FMC’s website, and each licensed OTI will be notified individually via email. Additionally, license renewal dates will be posted on the FMC’s official OTI list at http://www2.fmc.gov/oti/ In February 2017 the FMC Bureau of Licensing and Certification will officially contact the first group of OTIs required to complete this new process. Details will be forwarded via email, and will provide user names, passwords, and instructions on the process. This makes it especially important for licensed OTIs to ensure they have reported an accurate email address to the FMC Office of OTIs.

FMC’s regulations already require each licensed OTI to promptly report any change to its legal name, trade name(s), state of incorporation, head office address or U.S. branch office addresses, phone number or email address, as well as any change to its qualifying individual, shareholders, officers, and related entities. These details must be reported to FMC within 30 days after they occur; this requirement has been in effect for many years. The online license renewal process will use a pre-populated form FMC-18 with licensee data previously reported to the FMC presented to the user to be confirmed or updated. Renewal will not require “re-certification” of the licensee or the existing qualifying individual. Each licensee will have the option of self-completing its renewal or assigning their renewal to an attorney or FMC practitioner.

Licensees who have reported changes to FMC on a timely basis in the past should find the license renewal procedure easy to complete. Licensees who have overlooked this requirement should catch up now; do not wait for the license renewal deadline. Here at DPI we assist with the preparation and filing of FMC-OTI license applications and with reports to FMC. We will assist our members with the new license renewal requirement and provide expert guidance on best practices for compliance with the FMC regulations.

Back to top

Several carrier members of the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (TSA), FMC Agreement No. 011223 serving the East Asia/USA trade lanes (U.S. Imports) have adjusted fuel surcharges effective January 1 through March 31, 2017. Details are as follows:

Recommended BAF amounts shown with the asterisk (*) include the low-sulfur fuel component. For IPI/MLB destinations, the BAF includes both low-sulfur fuel component and the Inland Fuel Surcharge (IFS) component (**). BAF for other container sizes is as per formula.

Increases to the Alameda Corridor Charge (ACC) have been filed by American President Lines, Evergreen, Hyundai Merchant Marine, and Yang Ming; other TSA member carriers may follow.

Most of the TSA Carriers also updated their tariffs to provide General Rate Increases (GRIs) effective in December and/or January. Please visit https://www.dpiusa.com/signals for details. The early Chinese New Year may have prompted APL to also file a new Peak Season Surcharge (PSS) of USD 1000 per FEU effective December 15, 2016. Hyundai filed a PSS effective December 1, 2016 of USD 400 per FEU, and OOCL filed a PSS effective November 1, 2016 of USD 375 per FEU on shipments to U.S. East Coast Ports.

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 12 member carriers are: American President Lines, CMA CGM, COSCO Container Lines, Evergreen Marine, Hanjin Shipping, Hapag-Lloyd AG, Hyundai Merchant Marine, Maersk Line, Mediterranean Shipping, OOCL, Yang Ming Marine, and Zim Integrated Shipping Services. Effective November 16, 2016 NYK Line resigned from the TSA Carrier group. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (K-Line) resigned August 19, 2016. Hanjin Shipping remains a member.

Back to top

Several members of the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement Westbound (TSA), FMC Agreement No. 011223, whose member carriers serve the USA/East Asia trade lanes (U.S. Exports), have adjusted their fuel surcharges for the January to March 2017 quarter. Details are as follows:

Recommended BAF amounts shown with the asterisk (*) include the low-sulfur fuel component. BAF for other container sizes is as per formula. Increases to the Alameda Corridor Charge (ACC) have been filed by American President Lines, Evergreen, Hyundai Merchant Marine, and Yang Ming; other TSA member carriers may follow.

Most of the TSA Westbound Carriers also updated their tariffs to provide General Rate Increases (GRIs) effective in November, December and/or January. Visit https://www.dpiusa.com/signals for additional details. The TSA Westbound Carrier group only issues recommended guidelines to its member carriers. The group’s web site at www.tsa-westbound.org provides additional information; however, each carrier maintains its own tariffs and controls its own pricing. General rate increases are filed only in carrier tariffs.

Back to top