The International Fresh Produce Association praised the congressional passage of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act and said the legislation will help protect the interests of fresh produce exporters.
The House of Representatives approved the Senate’s version of the bipartisan Ocean Shipping Reform Act by a wide margin, and the bipartisan legislation will be signed into law by President Biden.
“The bipartisan Ocean Shipping Reform Act (S. 3580) provides much needed relief for our nation’s ports, in particular for the fresh produce industry that relies heavily on reliable, efficient ocean transport of fresh produce,” Robert Guenther, chief public policy officer for IFPA, said in a news release. “This legislation empowers the Federal Maritime Commission to broadly regulate ocean shipping and ensure the timely delivery of perishable goods at all levels of the fresh produce supply chain. At a time of rising costs and high inflation, we applaud the passage of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act and relief it will ultimately bring to fresh produce consumers and businesses.”
IFPA had lobbied member of Congress for passage of the legislation and helped create a letter co-signed by nearly 40 organizations representing the produce industry urging the quick passage of the legislation.
The Ocean Shipping Reform Act streamlines the process for the importation and export of all goods, the release said. The legislation is aimed at ending the unreasonable practice of ocean carriers returning to foreign ports empty when they could be carrying U.S. exports.
The act also shifts the burden of proof that leads to excessive “detention and demurrage” fees from exporters to ocean carriers and away from those businesses shipping goods who have no control over the cargo that is prioritized at U.S. ports, according to the release.
A summary of the legislation reports the Ocean Shipping Reform Act would:
- Authorize the FMC to self-initiate investigations of ocean common carriers’ business practices and apply enforcement measures, as appropriate.
- Prohibit ocean carriers from declining opportunities for U.S. exports unreasonably, as determined by the FMC in new required rulemaking.
- Shift burden of proof regarding the reasonableness of “demurrage and detention” charges from the invoiced party to the ocean carrier that issues the charge.
- Require ocean carriers or marine terminal operators to include invoice information that any late fees— known in maritime parlance as “demurrage and detention” charges—comply with federal regulations or face penalties.
- Improve transparency on U.S. agricultural and other exports by requiring ocean common carriers to report to the FMC how many empty containers they are transporting.
- Prohibit retaliation against shippers or threatening the denial of cargo.
- Codify the FMC Office of Consumer Affairs and Dispute Resolution Services. • Improve chassis management by authorizing the Bureau of Transportation Statistics to collect data on dwell times for chassis and including a National Academy of Sciences study on best practices of chassis management.
- Authorize the FMC to have temporary emergency authority to collect data during times of an emergency congestion situation, among other improvements.
