On January 15, 2021, the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission issued
a notice of proposed rulemaking
which would permit ocean carriers to wait up to thirty days before
filing service contracts with the Commission. The change, should it
ultimately be adopted, represents significant new flexibility for
carriers and shippers.
Service contracts are confidential ocean shipping agreements
which permit carriers to provide discounts from tariff rates in
exchange for volume commitments, and other conditions, in the
U.S.-international trades. Under current rules, such agreements
must be filed with the Commission before they can
come into effect. In the proposed rulemaking, the Commission states
that the proposed change aims at "avoiding the commercial harm
associated with situations in which cargo is received after the
parties have agreed to a service contract but before the service
contract is filed with the Commission."
