THE US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) will retain the requirement for ocean container carriers to file service contracts in response to a petition from the World Shipping Council (WSC) to exempt carriers from publication requirements in the Shipping Act.
The FMC agreed that continued publication of essential terms no longer serves a purpose, but rejected the WSC's call to eliminate the ocean carrier confidential service contract filing requirements of the Shipping Act, reports American Shipper.
'I would point out that we have three very large alliances that carry something north of 80 per cent of the cargo in the US east-west trades,' said FMC chairman Michael Khouri. 'One thing we're making sure is that there is competitive pricing among the members in each alliance.'
Mr Khouri also said eliminating the service contract filing requirement at this time would impact the FMC's 'effectiveness and necessity for tools to look into areas of anti-competitive behaviours.'
WORLD SHIPPING
The FMC agreed that continued publication of essential terms no longer serves a purpose, but rejected the WSC's call to eliminate the ocean carrier confidential service contract filing requirements of the Shipping Act, reports American Shipper.
'I would point out that we have three very large alliances that carry something north of 80 per cent of the cargo in the US east-west trades,' said FMC chairman Michael Khouri. 'One thing we're making sure is that there is competitive pricing among the members in each alliance.'
Mr Khouri also said eliminating the service contract filing requirement at this time would impact the FMC's 'effectiveness and necessity for tools to look into areas of anti-competitive behaviours.'
WORLD SHIPPING