Senators Introduce Ocean Shipping Reform Bills
Senators introduced a companion version of the House’s Ocean Shipping Reform Act, which would look to hold ocean carriers accountable for declining exports and other unfair shipping practices. The bipartisan bill -- introduced Feb. 3 by Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. -- would also require carriers to submit quarterly reports on total import and export tonnage per vessel and grant the Federal Maritime Commission new investigative and enforcement authorities. The House passed its version in December (see 2112080075).
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The bill has received broad support from agricultural shippers and trade groups (see 2108100011). Klobuchar said the bill will "level the playing field" for U.S. traders by giving the FMC greater authority to regulate "harmful" practices by ocean carriers, including unfair detention and demurrage fees. "The improvements made by this bill would provide the FMC with the tools necessary to address unreasonable practices by ocean carriers, holding them accountable for their bad-faith efforts that disenfranchise American producers," Thune said.
The World Shipping Council, which represents many of the world's leading ocean carriers, said "further regulating" carriers won't address the "deeper challenges" in U.S. supply chains. "The deeply flawed bill passed by the House at the end of last year would place government officials in the role of second-guessing commercially negotiated service contracts and dictating how carriers operate ship networks," WSC CEO John Butler said Feb. 4. "We look forward to the opportunity to work with the Senate to craft a final bill that -- in contrast to the House bill -- takes a comprehensive, forward-looking view of the real root causes of supply chain congestion -- and that does not make that congestion worse."
Klobuchar also introduced a separate Ocean Shipping Competition Reform Act, which would allow third parties to participate in legal cases brought by the FMC against ocean carriers and allow those third parties to receive "money damages." Senators in November introduced the Freight Act, which would authorize several recent FMC supply chain recommendations, including one that would allow more reparations for shippers that successfully show that a carrier or marine terminal operator violated detention and demurrage rules (see 2111220054).