Bush asked to reject agriculture coalition’s Jones Act waiver request

Bush asked to reject agriculture coalition’s Jones Act waiver request    A large group of American shipping companies asked the Bush administration Thursday to reject an agriculture coalition’s recent request to allow foreign-flag carriers to transport agricultural products in the U.S. coastwise trades.
   The Washington-based Maritime Cabotage Task Force called the request “unprecedented and unnecessary” in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. “There is simply no need for such a waiver,” said Philip Grill, the task force’s chairman, in a letter to President Bush.
   The 1920 Merchant Marine Act, better known as the Jones Act, restricts domestic waterborne trades to U.S.-flag vessels. Waivers to the Jones Act are rarely granted.
   “The agricultural interests’ request is not based on any legitimate justification,” Grill said. He added there are “thousands of barges on the Mississippi River system now poised to move America’s grain harvest to market.
   “The types of vessels used to transport agricultural products on inland waterways — covered barges — will not be called upon in great numbers to aid the reconstruction effort in New Orleans and the Gulf region, which will depend primarily on deck and open hopper barges,” he said.
   The agricultural coalition cited in its waiver request the transportation pressures related to surplus grain in the Midwest. “That situation is driven by the economic state of the world export market for U.S. grain, not the inability to move grain within the U.S.,” Grill said.
   The task force also pointed out that the lower Mississippi River system is nearly back to normal for barge traffic.
   “The introduction of foreign vessels and crews into the Jones Act domestic trades as sought by the agricultural groups will only make more difficult the task of returning U.S. seafarers in the impacted region back to work, and will increase the burden on those charged with homeland security responsibilities in the region,” Grill said.
   The task force’s letter noted the agricultural industry’s past attempts to breach the U.S.-flag vessel requirements of the Jones Act trades.
   “They have not been successful in requesting waivers in the past, and should not be rewarded now for having changed the rationale for the waiver from price to the aftermath of a hurricane,” Grill said.