House passes bipartisan ‘Ocean Shipping Reform Act’

The Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance is pleased that the “Ocean Shipping Reform Act” (H.R.4996) overwhelmingly passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday. The legislation, co-sponsored by Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) and Dusty Johnson (R-SD), passed by a bipartisan vote of 364-60

The bill, which has received strong endorsement from SSGA and many other national organizations whose members have been affected by global supply chain disruption, would make the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) a more effective federal regulator and ensure a more competitive global ocean shipping industry.

The legislation now heads to the United States Senate for consideration.

“We are pleased to see the House of Representatives take a strong bipartisan step forward to protect the interests of U.S. agricultural exporters by making needed reforms to strengthen the U.S. Shipping Act,” said Darwin Rader, SSGA board director and competitive shipping action team chair. “We hope the Senate will follow through with strong complementary legislation and that Congress will provide the Federal Maritime Commission with adequate resources to carry out its vital regulatory oversight mission.

“We would further welcome the opportunity to engage with the ocean carriers on ways to assure that inland U.S. agriculture shippers have timely access to containers and space on vessels so that we can reliably serve our overseas food manufacturing customers.”

The “Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2021” would:

• Establish reciprocal trade to promote U.S. exports as part of the Federal Maritime Commission’s (FMC) mission.
• Require ocean carriers to adhere to minimum service standards that meet the public interest, reflecting best practices in the global shipping industry.
• Require ocean carriers or marine terminal operators to certify that any detention and demurrage charges comply with federal regulations or face penalties.
• Shift burden of proof regarding the reasonableness of detention or demurrage charges from the invoiced party to the ocean carrier.
• Prohibit ocean carriers from declining opportunities for U.S. exports unreasonably, as determined by the FMC in new required federal rulemaking.
• Require ocean common carriers to report to the FMC each calendar quarter on total import/export tonnage and twenty-foot equivalent units (loaded/empty) per vessel that makes port in the United States.

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