FMC TO PUBLISH OSRA IMPACT REPORT ON SEPT. 26

FMC TO PUBLISH OSRA IMPACT REPORT ON SEPT. 26    The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission will publish the results of a detailed study on the impact of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act on Sept. 26.
   FMC chairman Harold Creel told the International Symposium on Liner Shipping in Hamburg that the agency will publish its report, two years on since OSRA was passed, and that the different segments of the industry have expressed overall satisfaction with the law.
   “Carriers and shippers in particular stated that they were pleased with the changes that OSRA made to service contracting,” Creel told the Hamburg conference.
   For carriers and shippers, the “overwhelming majority” of cargo shipments in U.S. trades are now subject to service contract rates, rather than tariff rates, he said. Both shippers and carriers have endorsed the individual service contract method, which has blossomed, he added.
   “Significantly, we received no complaint from shippers that they are unable to secure service contracts from carriers,” he said.
   Creel said he could not disclose the detailed findings of the study before its official date of publication, but he conceded that non-vessel-operating common carriers — now described as ocean transportation intermediaries — have expressed criticisms of OSRA, such as their inability under the law to sign service contracts with shippers, and their obligation to file tariffs.
   Creel said “it is no surprise” that intermediaries constitute the primary entities calling for additional changes in the regulatory system, such as limiting or eliminating antitrust immunity of ocean carriers. He also referred to plans by intermediaries to request an exemption from the tariff publication obligation of NVOCCs, which the FMC will consider. Such a change may not require a change in the law.
   Creel told American Shipper he believes the bill to remove carriers' immunity introduced by James Sensenbrenner, the new House Judiciary Committee chairman, does not have substantial backing in Washington. A bill by Sensenbrenner's predecessor, Rep. Henry Hyde, Ill., “gathered few supporters in Congress … and did not come close to being enacted,” Creel said.
   Sensenbrenner “has introduced essentially the same bill,” Creel said. “It will be interesting to see if it generates any more support than Mr. Hyde's bill.”
   But Creel said “the issue of antitrust immunity does not seem to go away.”