FMC clarifies new carrier agreement exemption thresholds

FMC clarifies new carrier agreement exemption thresholds    The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission has clarified the market share thresholds used to determine if a carrier agreement benefits from an exemption from the statutory 45-day waiting period.
   Under a rule that became effective Jan. 3, the FMC ruled that certain joint agreements between ocean common carriers such as vessel-sharing agreements and slot-charter agreement will no longer be subject to the customary 45-day waiting period if they have a low market share.
   The FMC previously defined a low market share agreement as any agreement among ocean common carriers which contains none of the authorities listed in 535.502(b) and for which the combined market share of the parties in any of the agreement’s sub-trade is either “less than 30 percent, if all parties are members of another agreement in the same trade or sub-trade ' ” or “less than 35 percent, if all parties are not members of another agreement in the same trade or sub-trade.”
   In a new notice published in the Federal Register, the FMC admitted that the application of the exemption may appear ambiguous in cases where some, but not all, parties are members of another agreement in the same trade or sub-trade.
   “To clarify the meaning of the exemption, as intended by the commission, section 535.311(a)(2) has been revised to state that the market share level of less than 35 percent applies if at least one party is not a member of another agreement in the same trade or sub-trade with any of the authorities listed in section 535.502(b),” the FMC said.
   Carrier agreements that do not qualify under the FMC’s definition of low market share agreements, as well as all capacity rationalization agreements, are subject to closer scrutiny from the FMC and longer waits before they can be implemented.