FMC Reviewing Late Filed Comments on D&D Rule

Federal Maritime Commission staff have "nearly" completed the drafting process for the commission's upcoming final rule on detention and demurrage, and are "reviewing several late filed subsequent comments that have come in within the past month," FMC General Counsel Chris Hughey said at a Sept. 21 FMC meeting.

Hughey said that the FMC is currently reviewing comments and drafting a final rule on refusal to deal, and also is working on a proposed rule that will address parts of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act mandated rule on unfair and unjustly discriminatory methods that are not included in the refusal to deal rule.

FMC Managing Director Lucille Marvin also discussed the OSRA charge complaint process at the meeting. Since the law's enactment in 2022, 104 of the 167 charge complaints that the FMC said met the threshold for investigation were resolved voluntarily, Marvin said during the meeting. That's an uptick in the number voluntarily resolved since Marvin's update at the commission's May meeting, where she said a little over half of the complaints that met that threshold were resolved voluntarily (see 2305040071).

In all, the FMC has received 402 charge complaints. Of the 167 complaints that met the threshold for investigation, 43 investigations had been completed and 36 of those investigations didn't find evidence that the charges were not in compliance, Marvin said. Those shippers were notified of this and other "potential avenues at the FMC" where those shippers could get help, she said. Twenty cases are currently under investigation, Marvin said.

"We definitely don't want the public to walk away with the impression that if your charge complaint didn't quite meet the threshold, that you're out," Marvin said. "We have many different avenues at the commission to help people with their commercial disputes."

Commissioner Rebecca Dye asked questions following Marvin's presentation about the charge complaint process, specifically if charge complaints go to the ocean carriers for consideration. Marvin said that it depends on the steps taken in each charge complaint. Marvin said that the FMC does try to get the carrier involved as soon as "all of the information" is together, but the FMC's hope is that the shipper has "tried to work out their issue with their carrier" before coming to the FMC with the charge complaint.