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Title 46 — ShippingRelease 119-73

§40305 Assessment agreements

Title 46 › Subtitle Subtitle IV— - Regulation of Ocean Shipping › Part Part A— - Ocean Shipping › Chapter CHAPTER 403— - AGREEMENTS › § 40305

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

File assessment agreements with the Federal Maritime Commission; they take effect when filed. If someone files a complaint within 2 years, the Commission, after notice and a hearing, can disapprove, cancel, or change any agreement, assessment, or charge it finds unfair between carriers, shippers, or ports and must decide within 1 year. If unfair, it will adjust charges by giving future credits or debits for the period between the complaint and the decision, or may award reparations if the complainant stopped the covered activity.

Full Legal Text

Title 46, §40305

Shipping — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)An assessment agreement shall be filed with the Federal Maritime Commission and is effective on filing.
(b)If a complaint is filed with the Commission within 2 years after the date of an assessment agreement, the Commission shall disapprove, cancel, or modify the agreement, or an assessment or charge pursuant to the agreement, that the Commission finds, after notice and opportunity for a hearing, to be unjustly discriminatory or unfair as between carriers, shippers, or ports. The Commission shall issue its final decision in the proceeding within one year after the date the complaint is filed.
(c)To the extent that the Commission finds under subsection (b) that an assessment or charge is unjustly discriminatory or unfair as between carriers, shippers, or ports, the Commission shall adjust the assessment or charge for the period between the filing of the complaint and the final decision by awarding prospective credits or debits to future assessments and charges. However, if the complainant has ceased activities subject to the assessment or charge, the Commission may award reparations.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 4030546 App.:1704(e) (less last sentence).Pub. L. 98–237, § 5(e) (less last sentence), Mar. 20, 1984, 98 Stat. 70; Pub. L. 105–258, title I, § 104(a)(2), (b)(1), Oct. 14, 1998, 112 Stat. 1904, 1905.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

46 U.S.C. § 40305

Title 46 — Shipping

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73