FMC asked to close NVO petition requests, proceed to proposed rulemaking

FMC asked to close NVO petition requests, proceed to proposed rulemaking    BAX Global wants the Federal Maritime Commission to end a petition drive within the non-vessel-operating common carrier industry for the ability to sign confidential service contracts with shippers and end the practice of tariff publication, and proceed to a proposed rulemaking.
   The flurry of petitions from the NVO industry started shortly after UPS filed its petition in July 2003 asking the FMC to use its exemption authority under section 16 of the 1998 Ocean Shipping Reform Act to allow it to offer customers confidential service contracts. This privilege was granted only to the vessel-operating common carriers under the Ocean Shipping Reform Act.
   The National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America followed with another petition asking that the FMC to use its section 16 exemption authority to end the requirement for NVOs to publish tariffs. NVOs complain that tariff publishing is a costly exercise with little benefit to shippers.
   In addition to BAX, other NVOs, such as C.H. Robinson Worldwide and Ocean World Lines, and most recently DHL-Danzas Air and Ocean and BDP International, filed petitions along the same lines to the FMC.
   “Simply put, BAX believes the endgame has arrived, the record is complete, and the commission must act promptly,” said the Southern California-based NVO in comments to the FMC on Feb. 13. “It is time for the commission to consolidate all related, pending petitions into a single rulemaking on the issue of service contract authority for qualified non-vessel-operating common carriers.”
   When BAX filed its NVO service-contracting petition to the FMC on Oct. 10, the company urged the agency to pursue the rulemaking route.
   “Rulemaking is the preferred process to adopt when an agency seeks to formulate new policy because it provides public participation in the process, avoids time-consuming ad judicatory hearings, and allows for easier enforcement,” the BAX petition said.
   BAX cautioned the FMC in its latest comments that “continued failure to consolidate the similar filings and initiate a rulemaking will only invite a continual stream of petitions from the NVOCC community.”