FMC’s Dye calls for U.S.-Canada regulatory harmonization

   The U.S. ocean transportation regulatory system should be harmonized with that of Canada “to the extent practicable,” said Rebecca Dye, a commissioner with the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission, in a speech last week to the Canadian American Business Council.
   She noted the FMC has undertaken an investigation of U.S. containerized cargo moving via Canadian and Mexican ports at the request of 10 members of Congress.
   The FMC received 80 comments in response to its query, and Dye has asked the agency’s staff “to consider the many reasons, in addition to tax policy, that may motivate a shipper or ocean carrier to use a particular North American port” by consulting with “U.S. agencies with authority over national fees and duties, national dredging policy, port security, and trade policy, including the North American Free Trade Agreement. 
   “I believe that the commission must also analyze the effect of any state, local, and port policies and fees that may affect the choice of port of entry into the United States,“ she said.
   The FMC should quantify the share of total cargo destined for the United States to determine the extent that any cargo was actually diverted, noting that several comments submitted to the FMC, including those from the Canadian government, estimated that U.S. containerized cargo imported via Canadian ports as a share of total U.S. port traffic has averaged less than 2.5 percent a year over the past decade.
   Speaking about the general outlook for shipping, Dye said “how the vessel capacity supply will interact with import and export demand this year is uncertain,” noting that a “slowdown in Chinese manufacturing, the disappointing U.S. economic reports, and continuing uncertainty about Europe’s fiscal situation contribute to continued macroeconomic uncertainty.”
   With imports from China for the first quarter of 2012 up almost 3.5 percent over the first quarter of 2011 and U.S. exports up more than 17 percent, “vessel operators in the transpacific trade report that recent vessel capacity utilization levels have been about 95 percent, and available vessel space is generally sufficient to cover current demand,” she said. – Chris Dupin