FMC TO TAKE ACTION ON TARIFF ACCESS

FMC TO TAKE ACTION ON TARIFF ACCESS    The Federal Maritime Commission will soon issue a formal notice outlining an upcoming review of ocean carriers’ fees charged to access their tariff systems.
   A commission review found that some carriers could be denying public access to tariff data with high fees or monthly minimum requirements.
   The FMC will seek public comment on an upcoming proposal to limit public access fees.
   The FMC also said it will work informally with ocean carriers to clear up problems which have surfaced in their automated tariff systems.
   Under the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, carriers no longer file their tariffs with the FMC. But, the commission retains oversight over carrier systems to make sure that tariffs are made available electronically, without limitation.
      The FMC said some systems fail to contain required user instructions, or publish incomplete instructions. Others do not contain an alphabetical commodity index or make commodity description searches difficult. Still other systems require too much time for downloading information or are too slow in moving between system functions.
   “We plan to work with the industry and to offer our assistance…to ensure appropriate public access to electronically published tariffs,” the FMC said.
      But, if these informal attempts fail to resolve the problems, the commission intends “to implement the corrective action necessary.”