FMC SURVEY FINDS MOST CONTRACTS LACK CONFIDENTIALITY CLAUSES

FMC SURVEY FINDS MOST CONTRACTS LACK CONFIDENTIALITY CLAUSES    Federal Maritime Commission chairman Hal Creel said Wednesday that an informal agency survey showed that of out of 408 service contracts reviewed, 83 percent lacked confidentiality clauses.
   Creel, speaking at a House Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Committee hearing on the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, said of those contracts that did contain confidentiality clauses, 77 percent required total confidentiality.
   The survey also found that 75 percent of the shippers signing the contracts were owners of the cargo, 20 percent were non-vessel-operating common carriers, and 5 percent were shippers’ associations.
   Creel and a panel of industry witnesses gave generally high marks to the OSRA and noted positive developments where confidential service contracting has led to customized, market-driven contracts.
   Panel participants supporting OSRA included John Clancey, chairman of Maersk Sealand, Inc.; Timothy Rhein, chairman of American President Lines; and Ed Emmett, president of the National Industrial Transportation League.
   The FMC and industry witnesses urged Congress to give OSRA more time to work, before making any changes in the law.
      The committee also heard from ocean transportation intermediaries    and port truck drivers, who support repealing ocean carriers’ antitrust immunity for rate-setting conferences and discussion agreements, which set voluntary rate guidelines.
   The National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association told the committee it plans to file a petition with the FMC that would exempt both NVOs and ocean carriers from the commission’s tariff enforcement powers and from the need to file tariffs through FMC-sanctioned access systems.
      The NCBFAA and the NIT League plan to begin a study to determine the value of NVOCC tariffs in the post-OSRA shipping environment.
   The study is expected to be completed by early July.