The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has confirmed twenty-six people will testify as witnesses at public hearings on January 16 and 17 in Washington, DC on issues related to detention, demurrage, and per diem charges raised in FMC Petition P4-16, which was filed by the Coalition for Fair Port Practices in December 2016. Hearings are scheduled to commence at 10:00 a.m. on both days and interested members of the public are invited to attend or watch a webcast.

These hearings will be organized into six panels focused on relevant topics with multiple speakers on each panel. The Coalition for Fair Port Practices will be the first panel, with six speakers. Separate panels representing cargo owners, ocean transportation intermediary (OTIs), drayage operators, ocean carriers, and marine terminals will follow. The FMC will be represented by its Acting Chairman, Michael Khouri, Commissioner Rebecca Dye, Commissioner Dan Maffei, and FMC staff.

In Petition P4-16, The Coalition for Fair Port Practices proposes a new rule for adoption by the Commission, and also requests the Commission provide specific guidance as to the reasonableness of detention, demurrage, and per diem charges when port conditions prevent the timely pick up of cargo or the return of carrier equipment because of broad circumstances that are beyond the control of shippers, receivers, or drayage providers. The text of the rule proposed in Petition P4-16 would formally state it will be unreasonable for a common carrier or a marine terminal operator to fail to extend free time or to collect demurrage, detention or per diem fees for a period equal to the duration of the “disability” wherein shippers are prevented from tendering cargo or receiving equipment due to port congestion, port disruption, weather related events, or delays caused by governmental action or requirements.

The FMC received comments on Petition No. P4-16 from over one hundred interested parties, including many in support of its aims. Several of the parties who drafted this petition will speak at these hearings along with representatives of import and export cargo owners, motor carriers, and OTIs who have submitted written comments in favor of it. These will include Richard Roche of Mohawk Global Logistics, who urged the FMC to initiate a proceeding to consider this important issue, and Peter Friedmann of the Agriculture & Commodities Transportation Coalition.

The ocean carrier and marine terminal panels are dominated by opponents of Petition No. P4-16, including John Butler, CEO of the World Shipping Council, whose written comments urged the FMC to deny this petition, and John E. Crowley, Jr., Executive Director of the National Association of Waterfront Employers, who wrote the proposed rule is “inconsistent with the Shipping Act’s stated purpose of establishing a non-discriminatory regulatory process with a minimum of government intervention and regulatory cost.”

The Commission also welcomes written comments and statements for the record relative to the issues being addressed at the hearing from persons who are unable to testify in person. Written comment should be submitted to secretary@fmc.gov as a PDF file by January 26, 2018. Copies of all written submissions will be posted to the Commission’s website, https://www.fmc.gov/p4-16/

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Several carrier members of the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (TSA), FMC Agreement No. 011223 serving the East Asia/USA trade lanes (U.S. Imports) updated their respective tariffs to include new General Rate Increases (GRIs) effective January 15, 2018 and February 1, 2018, including APL, CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, Hapag Lloyd, Hyundai Merchant Marine, Maersk, OOCL, and Yang Ming. K Line and NYK Line are no longer carrier members, but filed similar GRIs in their respective FMC tariffs. See tables below for GRI amounts per 40ft container; GRI amounts for all other container sizes are as per formula. The January 15th and February 1st GRIs will be the second and third GRI of 2018 for the East Asia/USA trade lane, respectively.

A few carrier members updated their respective FMC tariffs to increase the Alameda Corridor Charges (ACC) from USD 25/50/50/55 per 20ft/40ft/40HC/45ft, respectively, to USD 26/52/52/57, effective January 2018. Some have increased the charge for 45ft containers. See table below.

Note 1: Hapag Lloyd announced that they will apply Alameda Corridor Charges of USD 25/49/55 per 20ft/40ft/45ft container, respectively, effective February 1, 2018.

Note 2: K Line announced that they will apply Alameda Corridor Charges of USD 25/49/55 per 20ft/40ft/45ft container, respectively, effective February 1, 2018.

The TSA Carrier group web site at www.tsacarriers.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.

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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Some 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 updated their respective FMC tariffs to reflect increased Alameda Corridor Charges (ACC). Others will maintain the same levels as for 2017. See below table.

Note 1: Hapag Lloyd announced that they will apply Alameda Corridor Charges of USD 25/49/55 per 20ft/40ft/45ft container, respectively, effective February 1, 2018.

Note 2: K Line announced that they will apply Alameda Corridor Charges of USD 25/49/55 per 20ft/40ft/45ft container, respectively, effective February 1, 2018.

The TSA Westbound Carrier group 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.

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