Commissioners Frustrated by FMC ‘Constraints’ in Reviewing Vessel-Sharing Agreement
Two more commissioners with the Federal Maritime Commission said they don’t necessarily support a new vessel-sharing agreement between major ocean carriers Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, and they’re frustrated they didn’t have longer to review the agreement before it took effect Sept. 9.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
Even though the FMC couldn’t stop the agreement from entering into force, that “does not reflect our position regarding the potential competitive impacts of the cooperation agreement or whether it should be challenged at a later date,” Commissioners Carl Bentzel and Max Vekich said in a Sept. 10 joint statement. “It reflects our frustration with procedural constraints surrounding the Commission’s ability to obtain and analyze information necessary to make our assessment and then to obtain an injunction prior to the statutorily provided window available to the Commission.”
Their comments came one day after FMC Chair Daniel Maffei said he had concerns about the Gemini Cooperation Agreement but noted that the commission couldn’t legally prevent it from taking effect (see 2409090064). The agreement was filed with the FMC May 31, and the commission was legally bound to review the deal within a certain time frame before it took effect.
Bentzel and Vekich said they had a “total time” of 90 days to “obtain extensive economic data, assess the competitive impact of an agreement, and then seek an injunction from the District Court.” They said the FMC “may still seek injunctive relief even if the agreement is in effect.”
They also noted that a bill from Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., would allow the FMC to block any agreement among ocean carriers and marine terminal operators -- without having to first secure a court injunction -- if the commission determines the agreement would be anticompetitive.
“This legislation aimed to strengthen the FMC’s ability to enforce competition in the ocean shipping industry,” Bentzel and Vekich said. “We are both on record initially supporting this legislative change, and we still believe it makes sense today.”