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Title 46 — ShippingRelease 119-73not60

§40305 Assessment Agreements

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

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

File an assessment agreement with the Federal Maritime Commission; it takes effect when filed. If someone files a complaint within 2 years, the Commission must, after giving notice and a hearing, reject, cancel, or change the agreement or its charges if it finds them unfair or if they favor some carriers, shippers, or ports over others, and must decide within one year. If the Commission finds charges were unfair for the time between the complaint and its final decision, it will adjust future charges by giving credits or debits. If the person who complained stopped the activity that was being charged, the Commission may instead order reparations.

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 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60