FIATA CONDUCTS SURVEY ON IMPACT OF OSRA

    The International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations has conducted a survey of its members about what it regards as the U.S. Ocean Shipping Reform Act’s increased discrimination against non-vessel-operating common carriers.
    The purpose of the survey is "to acquire concrete facts and figures which demonstrate the discrimination against the freight forwarding industry in the U.S. maritime trade," FIATA said.
    NVOCCs have complained that, contrary to shipping lines, they are denied the right of signing service contracts with shippers with confidential rates. Ocean carriers, as competitors of NVOCCs, "have therefore been able to see each and every rate of a freight forwarder," FIATA said.
    The American International Freight Association, the U.S. organization of the FIATA federation, is exploring the feasibility of lessening the burden of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act on the international NVOCC industry.