§40303 Content requirements

Summary

Ocean carriers in a group must let each member talk with and make service contracts with shippers. The group cannot force a member to share details about those talks or contracts, except for what must be published under section 40502(d). The group also cannot put in place rules that stop members from negotiating or signing service contracts. The carriers may create voluntary guidelines about contract terms and procedures, but the guidelines must say members can ignore them and must be sent confidentially to the Federal Maritime Commission. A carrier group called a conference must say why it exists and use fair rules for letting carriers join or rejoin. Members must be able to leave with reasonable notice and no penalty. A member can ask for an independent neutral body to enforce the conference’s duties. The conference must forbid conduct banned by section 41105(1) or (3). It must set up a process to try to settle disputes and to work with shippers to stop bad practices, and it must handle shipper complaints quickly and fairly. Any member may act alone on a rate or service item after giving up to 5 days’ notice. Except for exempt commodities not listed in the conference tariff, the conference must add that new rate or item to its tariff for that member within 5 days, and other members may adopt it afterward. Agreements between carriers not in the same conference, or between conferences, must also let each carrier or conference act alone. A carrier that owns or charters a U.S.-documented liner vessel may agree that a charterer will not use space on the vessel for cargo that the law reserves for U.S. vessels when the charterer has not been the owner/operator or bareboat charterer for at least one year of eligible U.S. liner vessels enrolled in the Maritime Security Fleet and Emergency Preparedness Program.