Title 46, ShippingRelease 119-110
§40305 Assessment Agreements
Title 46 › Subtitle IV — Regulation of Ocean Shipping › Part A — Ocean Shipping › CHAPTER 403 — AGREEMENTS › § 40305
Summary
File assessment agreements with Federal Maritime Commission; they become effective when filed. If a complaint is filed within 2 years, the Commission must give notice and hold a hearing and may cancel, change, or reject agreements or charges it finds unfair to carriers, shippers, or ports, and must decide within one year. If unfair, it must adjust future charges or award money if the complainant stopped the activity.
Full Legal Text
Title 46, §40305
Shipping, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Filing Requirement.—
An assessment agreement shall be filed with the Federal Maritime Commission and is effective on filing.
(b)Complaints.—
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)Adjustments of Assessments and Charges.—
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
Sep 22, 2026
Release point: 119-110