Ocean Shipping Reform Act Passes House
The House of Representatives on Dec. 8 passed the Ocean Shipping Reform Act 364-60, though the text of the bill changed from its introduction in August. The bill prohibits ocean carriers from unreasonably reducing "shipper accessibility to equipment necessary for the loading or unloading of cargo," and tells them they must furnish containers needed and allocate "vessel space accommodations, in consideration of reasonably foreseeable import and export demands." They cannot "unreasonably decline export cargo bookings if such cargo can be loaded safely and timely, as determined by the Commandant of the Coast Guard, and carried on a vessel scheduled for the immediate destination of such cargo."
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The Federal Maritime Commission must initiate a rulemaking within 90 days of the law's passage to define the term "unreasonably decline," the language says.
It also says that a carrier or marine terminal operator shall not charge demurrage or detention charges "unless accompanied by an accurate certification that such charges comply with all rules and regulations concerning demurrage or detention issued by the Commission."
The World Shipping Council criticized the bill, saying the measure has been politicized and won’t fix the nation’s supply chain congestion issues. “The bill is a political statement of frustration with supply chain challenges -- frustrations that ocean carriers share,” said John Butler, president of the council, which represents Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd and other major carriers. “The problem is that the bill is not designed to fix the end-to-end supply chain congestion that the world is experiencing, and it will not and cannot fix that congestion.”
Butler said the council will continue to work with the Congress to “seek real solutions” for the ocean transportation system (see 2112070046). The Ocean Shipping Reform Act (see 2112080075) has been lauded by shippers, which say the bill could help hold carriers accountable for unfair fees and declined export bookings (see 2108100011).
The National Retail Federation hailed the bill's passage, saying, "These improvements could not come at a more critical time, as the amplification from the pandemic has been severe. We thank Reps. [John] Garamendi[, D-Calif.,] and [Dusty] Johnson[, R-S.D.,] for their leadership and the House for their swift vote to approve this measure. We encourage the Senate to follow suit.”