SSGA applauds Ocean Shipping Reform Act passage

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Relief is finally in sight for agricultural shippers, after President Biden signed the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 on Thursday.

The law will ensure a more competitive global ocean shipping industry and provide relief to U.S. exporters, including Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance (SSGA)-member agricultural exporters, who have struggled with significant supply chain disruptions over the past two years. It will also provide the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) with new, additional enforcement authority to address unreasonable and unfair ocean carrier practices that have been harmful to U.S. exporters, including prohibiting carriers from unreasonably declining opportunities to U.S. exports.

“The Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 gives the Federal Maritime Commission additional authority and tools to protect U.S. exporters from ocean carrier practices they determine to be unfair and illegal,” said Darwin Rader of Zeeland Farm Services, an SSGA board director and chair of the alliance’s competitive shipping action team. “Hopefully, the end result will be that U.S. ag exporters will have the opportunity to ship their goods to customers around the globe in a timely manner at a fair price.”

SSGA Chair Rob Prather, AgTC Executive Director Peter Friedmann and SSGA Executive Director Eric Wenberg

The House first passed a version of the bill in December, and the Senate passed its version by unanimous consent on March 31. Rather than reconcile the two bills by conference committee, the House opted to pass the Senate version. The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the Senate version of the bill, 369-42 on Monday, and the president signed it at a ceremony on Thursday at the White House.

SSGA appreciates the hard work of the bill’s sponsors, Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and John Thune (R-S.D.), and Reps. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) and Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) for their bipartisan efforts in getting through the bill that will support agricultural shippers.

“We applaud the work that’s been done so far,” SSGA Executive Director Eric Wenberg said. “We’ve used our expertise in intermodal shipping to inform and educate the debate and will continue to do so. With three of the four congressional sponsors being from South Dakota and Minnesota, we trust that the message is clear and that the final rule, when it emerges, will support agricultural shippers from the central United States.”

SSGA has long supported passage of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act and has worked since October 2020 to inform the general public about the supply chain crisis, working on behalf of its members who export high-quality, Identity Preserved and specialty grains and oilseeds to help them meet the needs of their overseas customers.

Lack of service, carrier cancelations, delays and rising freight rates and fees had “reached a condition critical situation,” said SSGA Chairman Rob Prather, chief strategic ambassador for Iowa-based Global Processing, affected business and have had a human toll, as well, causing hardships to logistics staffs, farmers, truckers, suppliers and customers both in the U.S. and abroad.

This week, SSGA held its quarterly board meeting in Tacoma, Washington and attended the Agriculture Transportation Coalition’s (AgTC) annual meeting there. During the AgTC meeting, Klobuchar, in a video message, acknowledged SSGA, among others, for supporting the Ocean Shipping Reform Act and for championing ag exports.

SSGA also has great appreciation for AgTC and its efforts to help get the act to Congress.

The Ocean Shipping Reform Act will:

  • Require ocean carriers to certify that late fees — known as “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 unreasonably refusing cargo space accommodations for U.S. exports and from discriminating against U.S. exporters;
  • Require ocean common carriers to report to the FMC each calendar quarter on total import/export tonnage and 20-foot equivalent units (loaded/empty) per vessel that makes port in the United States;
  • Authorize the FMC to self-initiate investigations of ocean common carrier’s business practices and apply enforcement measures, as appropriate; and
  • Establish new authority for the FMC to register shipping exchanges.

“This new legislation is important and long overdue,” said SSGA board director Bob Sinner of SB&B Foods. “We’ve been waiting for this for many, many months. I am hopeful that the rulemaking that follows this legislation ensures that equipment gets where it’s needed. At the end of the day that’s what’s needed in rural America.”

Ocean Shipping Reform Act to become law

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Ag shippers from central U.S. in need of relief

More than 2 ½ years ago, the Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance was one of the first agricultural associations to sound the alarm on the crisis taking place in container shipping. Finally, some relief is in sight, as the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 is heading to President Biden’s desk. On Monday, U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the Senate version of the bill, 369-42.

The House first passed a version of the bill in December, and the Senate passed its version by unanimous consent on March 31. Rather than reconcile the two bills by conference committee, the House opted to pass the Senate version.

SSGA acknowledges the bill’s sponsors, Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and John Thune (R-S.D.), and Reps. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) and Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) for their bipartisan efforts in getting through a bill that would provide the Federal Maritime Commission with new, additional enforcement authority. It also will ensure a more competitive global ocean shipping industry and provide relief to U.S. exporters, including SSGA-member agricultural exporters, who have struggled with significant supply chain disruptions over the past two years.

“We applaud the work that’s been done so far,” SSGA Executive Director Eric Wenberg said. “We’ve used our expertise in intermodal shipping to inform and educate the debate and will continue to do so. With three of the four congressional sponsors being from South Dakota and Minnesota, we trust that the message is clear and that the final rule, when it emerges, will support agricultural shippers from the central United States.”

Once signed, the law also would provide additional enforcement tools to address unreasonable and unfair ocean carrier practices that have been harmful to U.S. exporters, including prohibiting carriers from unreasonably declining opportunities to U.S. exports.

On Tuesday, SSGA will hold its quarterly board meeting in Tacoma, Washington, prior to the annual meeting of the Agriculture Transportation Coalition’s annual meeting where senators and representatives who sponsored the Ocean Shipping Reform Act are scheduled to appear.

SSGA has long supported passage of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act and has worked since October 2020 to inform the general public about the supply chain crisis, working on behalf of its members who export high-quality, Identity Preserved and specialty grains and oilseeds to help them meet the needs of their overseas customers.

Lack of service, carrier cancelations, delays and rising freight rates and fees have “reached a condition critical situation,” according to SSGA Chairman Rob Prather, chief strategic ambassador for Iowa-based Global Processing, affected business and have had a human toll, as well, causing hardships to logistics staffs, farmers, truckers, suppliers and customers both in the U.S. and abroad.

SSGA announces U.S. Identity Preserved: An advancement in food traceability

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Quality assurance plan benefits the U.S. soybean and specialty grain markets and global food manufacturers

The Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance announces the introduction of U.S. Identity Preserved, a designation signifying a premium crop with a verifiable origin. This quality assurance program represents a significant advancement in food traceability for food manufacturers, processors and exporters.

As traceability in food production becomes increasingly preferred by consumers and manufacturers, the U.S. Identity Preserved (IP) quality assurance plan and accompanying designation and website, USidentitypreserved.org, represent a step forward for customers looking for grains with specific traits or qualities such as variety, protein and sugar levels, color, bean size or flavor. When manufacturers purchase a U.S. Identity Preserved product, they can be assured the grains are traceable from their fields of origin throughout the process of production, processing, packaging and distribution, which provides the knowledge and assurance customers need.

“With our U.S. Identity Preserved designation, we’re delivering a quality assurance plan that brings together the U.S. IP industry and reinforces the United States as a quality origin for those IP crops,” said Eric Wenberg, executive director, Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance. “U.S. Identity Preserved will help U.S. processors and exporters broaden access and open more foreign markets, as well as better compete in the international market.”

Crops Grown with a Purpose

Customers can order specifically what they need for the future so IP producers can grow it today. This ensures quality, consistency and safety of food; fork-to-farm traceability, and a dependable supply so it is worthwhile for growers and customers alike.

“As a launch partner, Global Processing will begin using this new, industry-defining mark that signifies the value of U.S. Identity Preserved field crops,” said Rob Prather, chief strategic ambassador at Global Processing Inc and SSGA’s vice-chair. “This program enhances our offerings in sustainable, traceable and regenerative products ensuring a stable, consistent and healthy global food supply.”

Value adds value

With growing consumer and retail demand for increased understanding of how and from where food is produced, traceability has never been more vital. Growers participating in the program must follow rigorous specifications throughout the production process (pre-planting through harvest), storage, processing and distribution. This includes taking great care to avoid any cross-contamination, adhering to field verifications and program audits, chain of custody verification, proper labeling and product identification and other checks and assurances.

“The value U.S. Identity Preserved processors offer comes through the strict protocols and safety measures that ensure the quality, consistency and security of their products throughout the value chain,” Wenberg said. “Identity Preserved products demand a premium because of the close attention IP farmers, processors and shippers pay to quality requirements and safety and the commitment to fulfill the needs of their customers.”

Learn more about the designation, its benefits, the IP value chain and how to get involved at USIdentityPreserved.org.

‘We need action now’: Ag exporters seek remedy for shipping crisis

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300 ag groups, companies sign letter to transportation secretary

As the container shipping crisis continues its crippling effect on U.S. exporters, the Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance (SSGA) joined nearly 300 agricultural and forest product associations and companies – including several SSGA members – this week in signing on to a letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, urging immediate intervention to remedy the situation.

“We need action now,” the letter states, “not additional studies.”

SSGA agrees, as U.S. exporters and their access to foreign markets must be protected.

The letter requests that the Department of Transportation assist the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) “in expediting its enforcement options” and “consider its existing authorities” to determine how it can assist U.S. exporters and the ag producers they serve in their transportation needs.

For more than six months, U.S. ag exporters, including SSGA members who supply Identity Preserved (IP) soya and specialty grains for food manufacture, have suffered under unreasonable practices by ocean carriers. These practices include the declining of U.S. agricultural and other exports in favor of sending empty containers back overseas in order to keep up with the massive demand for consumer imports.

The imbalance has caused congestion, delays and even cancelation at the ports, and carriers have failed to provide accurate notice of arrival, departure and loading times. Carriers have also imposed unreasonable, punitive financial penalties on exporters, who, through no fault of their own, have missed loading windows. This is in violation of detention and demurrage guidelines set forth by the FMC. SSGA and other associations have previously supported FMC’s investigation into these practices.

It has been estimated that $1.5 billion in ag exports has been lost during this crisis, which has come on the heels of a pandemic that has also severely injured the market.

With no sign of the crisis letting up in the immediate future, SSGA is hopeful that Secretary Buttigieg will act upon this increasingly dire situation. Our members, allies and partners at the Agriculture Transportation Coalition have specific measures to propose and are requesting the opportunity to present them.

Copies of the letter were also sent to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and leadership of the Senate and House transportation committees. The letter can be found here.

SSGA joins ag associations in plea to President Biden

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The Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance joined 70 other agriculture associations this week in an urgent plea to President Biden for intervention into the container shipping crisis that has severely injured food and other U.S. ag and forestry exports that our international customers are depending on. 

In the letter sent Wednesday, the group requested that provisions available to the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) via the Shipping Act and other government tools “be immediately applied to stem the current ocean carrier practices that are so damaging to our agricultural products.” 

U.S. agricultural exporters’ access to international markets is being jeopardized by this unprecedented dysfunction and cost of ocean transportation services, which includes unreasonable and unjust practices such as the rejection of U.S. agricultural cargo by ocean carriers who are shipping empty containers back overseas to keep up with the high demand for U.S.-bound imported goods. 

“The only way to get out of this is for ocean carriers to return to previous levels of taking containerized exports out of the U.S. instead of such a high percentage of empty containers,” said Darwin Rader, SSGA’s secretary/treasurer and competitive shipping action team chair. “There’s a lot of frustration among U.S. exporters. We have to keep pushing as hard as we can for carriers to treat U.S. exporters fairly to help restore the balance of trade.” 

In October, SSGA was one of the first national agricultural associations to shine a light on the disruption of the food supply chain and other critical problems facing containerized ag exports after members began to be informed that some ocean carriers were suspending containerized and other overseas ag shipments. 

Earlier this month, SSGA representatives had the opportunity to give testimony to the FMC, along with other national ag organizations. And last week, FMC announced it had issued an information demand to ocean carriers and marine terminal operators to answer questions about policies and practices that have contributed to this crisis. 

The letter to President Biden, organized by the Agriculture Transportation Coalition (AgTC), points out that ocean carriers are enjoying their most profitable period in decades, “charging unprecedented freight rates (and) imposing draconian fees on our exporters and importers,” while potentially irreversible damage is being done to the U.S. companies that ship containerized agricultural products. 

The letter was also sent to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, who was confirmed on Wednesday, along with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Council of Economic Advisors Chair Cecilia Rouse and Federal Maritime Commissioner Michael Khouri. 

To read a copy of the letter, go here.. AgTC has an overview of the current export crisis here.

Federal Maritime Commission demands information from carriers

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SSGA applauds investigation, which includes marine terminal operators

The Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance applauds last week’s Federal Maritime Commission decision to issue an information demand to ocean carriers and marine terminal operators to answer questions on detention and demurrage practices, as well as policies and practices related to container returns and container availability to exporters.

In a press release issued Feb. 17, the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) announced that Commissioner Rebecca F. Dye issued the order to determine if “ocean carriers operating in an alliance and calling the Port of Los Angeles, the Port of Long Beach and the Port of New York & New Jersey” are meeting their legal obligations, along with marine terminal operators (MTOs) at those ports. According to the FMC press release:

The orders are being issued under the authority Commissioner Dye has as the Fact Finding Officer for Fact Finding 29, “International Ocean Transportation Supply Chain Engagement.”  …

Failure of carriers and MTOs to operate in a way consistent with the Interpretive Rule on Detention and Demurrage that became effective on May 18, 2020, might constitute a violation of 46 USC 41102(c) which prohibits unjust and unreasonable practices and regulations related to, or connected with, receiving, handling, storing, or delivering property.

Information received from parties receiving demands may be used as a basis for hearings, Commission enforcement action or further rulemaking.

In October, SSGA was among the first national agricultural associations to shine a light on the disruption of the food supply chain and other critical problems facing containerized ag exports after members had been informed that some ocean carriers were suspending containerized and other overseas ag shipments in order to keep up with import demand of goods from Asia.

“In their haste to meet increased demands for foreign imports to the United States, the ocean carriers have left U.S. ag exporters behind while clogging the ports and disrupting the supply chain throughout the system, including rail and trucking,” said Eric Wenberg, SSGA executive director. “That’s why the Federal Maritime Commission needed to step in. But more needs to be done.

“Now, ocean carriers and marine terminal operators must cooperate with the FMC, and the hope is this can be resolved quickly so our members’ products and ingredients can get to the foreign food manufacturers who have been patiently waiting for them.”

On Feb. 9, SSGA representatives had the opportunity to give testimony to the FMC, along with a large contingent of national ag organizations, including National Grain and Feed Association and the Agriculture Transportation Coalition.

For more on the container shipping crisis, see the latest IP-ODCAST, in which SSGA Secretary/Treasurer and Competitive Shipping Action Team Chair Darwin Rader spoke about the ongoing situation.

SSGA speaks up for identity-preserved farmers in D.C. testimony

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Eric Wenberg tells USTR committee farmers need more market opportunity

Identity-preserved (IP) crop farmers were represented at a hearing Wednesday about China’s compliance with its commitments to the World Trade Organization (WTO), regarding China’s current zero threshold presence limit placed on imports of non-genetically modified (non-GM) field crops.

On behalf of the Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance (SSGA) and with coordination and support of the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) and American Soybean Association (ASA), SSGA Executive Director Eric Wenberg provided testimony to the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) in preparation of the Office of the United States Trade Representative’s (USTR) annual report about China’s compliance with WTO rules. Wenberg was one of six individuals providing testimony on a range of issues, including intellectual property among others.

Non-GM food variety soybeans from the United States have been excluded from Chinese imports, although genetically modified soybeans are allowed for import, due to China’s lack of a nonzero low level presence threshold allowing for biotech soybeans to be mixed in.

“Farmers growing identity-preserved and non-GM crops must abide by stringent standards to produce specific varieties and traits to produce food for customers around the globe,” Wenberg said. “They deserve an additional market opportunity for their products. The soybean industry’s concern about this issue helps draw attention to the need to see a solution to this problem along with the other barriers to U.S. product sales. According to customs and trade data, food variety soya exports to all destinations for IP can reach $1.7 billion (2018), but we could sell more if the China market was open to us.”

IP soybeans and specialty grains are grown coast-to-coast, but are predominately exported from North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Arkansas and Wisconsin.

About Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance
SSGA is a national alliance of companies and producers focused on production, processing and shipping of specialty soya and grains worldwide. Its mission is to provide resources that communicate the quality, diversity and availability of their products and be a voice for food varieties in field crops.