The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) issued an Industry Advisory to remind Vessel-Operating Common Carriers (VOCCs) and Non-Vessel-Operating Common Carriers (NVOCCs) of their compliance obligations when doing business with other NVOCCs and Ocean Freight Forwarders (OFFs).

• VOCCs and NVOCCs must verify that NVOCCs and OFFs they do business with are compliant with FMC’s licensing, registration, tariff, and bonding requirements before accepting or transporting cargo for the account of an NVOCC or OFF.
• VOCCs must verify an NVOCC’s compliance with FMC’s licensing, registration, tariff, and bonding requirements before signing a Service Contract with an NVOCC.
• NVOCCs are prohibited from knowingly and willfully entering into an NVOCC Service Arrangement (NSA) with another NVOCC if the second NVOCC does not meet FMC’s licensing, registration, tariff, and bonding requirements.

Failure to meet these obligations could result in FMC fines or other penalties. Maximum penalties for knowing and willful violations of the Shipping Act are USD 70,752 per occurrence. Maximum penalties for violations that are not knowing and willful are USD 14,149 per occurrence. The FMC adjusts penalty amounts to account for inflation annually.

The Commission maintains an official list of NVOCCs and OFFs that are licensed (or registered in case of foreign-based unlicensed NVOCCs) and have filed proof of bonding. VOCCs and NVOCCs should check this list before working with an OFF or NVOCC to ensure they have complied with FMC’s licensing, registration, and bonding requirements.

The Commission also maintains an official list of NVOCC tariff locations. VOCCs and NVOCCs should check this list before working with an NVOCC to ensure they have complied with FMC’s tariff requirements.

The FMC maintains these lists to support compliance and protect the shipping public.

The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) requested additional information from the parties to the World Shipping Council (WSC) Agreement (Agreement No.: 201349–003). This action prevented the agreement update from becoming effective as originally scheduled on July 1, 2023.

The parties had sought to amend the Agreement to provide for the development and creation of tools and processes to enhance cargo screening efforts by the WSC members to reduce safety risks to crews, vessels, cargo, and the marine environment resulting from undeclared or non-compliant dangerous goods. The Amendment would authorize the WSC members to:

1. discuss and agree upon voluntary best practices relating to minimum safety standards for screening and inspecting dangerous cargo,
2.  establish and administer a common digital solutions tool for the cargo screening process (including through a third-party vendor), and
3. create and maintain databases of shippers and cargo inspection companies that demonstrate conformance with minimum safety standards.

The WSC Agreement authorizes the parties to discuss, communicate, and cooperate on environmental and climate-related matters, legal and regulatory matters, and industry positions to be taken with respect to international treaties, governmental requirements, and safety and security matters.

Parties to the Agreement include COSCO Shipping Lines Co., Ltd., Orient Overseas Container Line Ltd., and OOCL (Europe) Limited; CMA CGM S.A., APL Co. Pte. Ltd., American President Lines, LLC and ANL Singapore Pte Ltd., Crowley Caribbean Services, LLC and Crowley Latin America Services, LLC, Evergreen Marine Corporation (Taiwan) Ltd., Hapag-Lloyd AG, HMM Company Limited, Independent Container Line, Ltd., Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd., Maersk A/S and Hamburg Sud, Matson Navigation Company, Inc., MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company SA, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd., Nippon Yusen Kaisha, Ocean Network Express Pte. Ltd., Swire Shipping, Pte. Ltd., Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ocean AS, Wan Hai Lines Ltd. and Wan Hai Lines (Singapore) Pte Ltd., Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp., and Zim Integrated Shipping Services, Ltd.

The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) closed out one complaint in July 2023 by issuing a Notice Not to Review.

Notice Not to Review – FMC Docket No. 22-27:  Globerunners, Incorporated, a Texas-based non-vessel-operating common carrier, filed a formal complaint against Hoyer Global (USA), Inc., also a Texas-based non-vessel-operating common carrier. Globerunners alleged that Hoyer violated the U.S. Shipping Act by failing to establish, observe, and enforce just and reasonable practices related to receiving, handling, storing, and delivering of cargo.

Specifically, Globerunners alleged that after a shipment to Korea incurred demurrage in 2019, Hoyer failed to properly support its invoices for demurrage charges and attempted to charge more than it had paid to the destination port and terminal.

Globerunners requested that the Commission order Hoyer to cease a desist collection of demurrage, storage and/or wharfage exceeding the amount paid by Hoyer and to cease and desist from refusing to provide proof of the actual amount of charges that Hoyer paid for demurrage. Globerunners further requested the Commission investigate and find Hoyer in violation of the Shipping Act and issue any further relief the FMC determined to be just and proper.

In June 2023, the two NVOCCs requested and received approval for a confidential settlement. The Commission declined to review the settlement approval on July 31, 2023, and the settlement is now administratively final.

For more details visit FMC’s online reading room. The FMC’s reading room provides access to FMC dockets, related documents, notices, and orders.

Several leading carriers serving the Transpacific container trades have recently updated their respective tariffs to include new General Rate Increases (GRIs) effective August 15, 2023, including CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, Hapag Lloyd, HMM Company Limited, Ocean Network Express (ONE), Yang Ming, and ZIM. See table below for GRI amounts per 40ft container. GRI amounts for all other container sizes are as per formula. The August 15th GRIs will be the sixteenth GRI of 2023 for the East Asia/USA trade lane.

NOTE 1:  CMA CGM GRIs will be USD 1000 per 40ft container for dry cargo, and USD 1125 per 40ft container for reefer cargo. GRI amounts for all other container sizes are as per formula.

NOTE 2:  COSCO GRIs apply on all cargo moving under service contracts only.

NOTE 3:  Evergreen GRIs will be USD 1000 per 40ft container for dry cargo, and USD 1000 per reefer container. GRI amounts for all other container sizes are as per formula.

Some carriers also updated their tariffs to include new General Rate Increases (GRIs) effective September 1, 2023, including CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, Hapag Lloyd, HMM Company Limited, Ocean Network Express (ONE), Yang Ming, and ZIM. See table below for GRI amounts per 40ft container. GRI amounts for all other container sizes are as per formula. The September 1st GRIs will be the seventeenth GRI of 2023 for the East Asia/USA trade lane.

NOTE 1:  CMA CGM GRIs will be USD 1000 per 40ft container for dry cargo, and USD 1125 per 40ft container for reefer cargo. GRI amounts for all other container sizes are as per formula.

NOTE 2:  COSCO GRIs apply on all cargo moving under service contracts only.

NOTE 3:  Evergreen GRIs will be USD 1000 per 40ft container for dry cargo, and USD 1000 per reefer container. GRI amounts for all other container sizes are as per formula.

Each carrier maintains its own tariffs and controls its own pricing.

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.