FMC’s Regulatory Reform Task Force taking shape

The Federal Maritime Commission’s Regulatory Reform Task Force, which was announced in March by Acting Chairman Michael A. Khouri, aims to identify burdensome, unnecessary and outdated directives, and recommend how they should be remedied.    The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission’s Regulatory Reform Task Force, which was announced in March by Acting Chairman Michael A. Khouri to identify burdensome, unnecessary and outdated directives, and recommend how they should be remedied, is taking shape.
   Next week the commission is expected to publish a Federal Register notice of inquiry which will invite the shipping public to submit its recommendation to the FMC. Upon publication, the industry will have 30 days to respond to the notice.
   The FMC said the Regulatory Reform Task Force is consistent with the intent of President Trump’s Feb. 24 Executive Order and the “deregulatory spirit” of the 1984 Shipping Act, as amended by the 1998 Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA), as well as the agency’s regulatory review initiatives ongoing since Nov. 4, 2011.
   Khouri already named Karen V. Gregory, managing director of the commission, as the regulatory reform officer to lead the task force, which will be composed of FMC staff.
   FMC spokesman John DeCrosta said Khouri is “committed to having a regulatory reform initiative that actually delivers meaningful changes that make it easier for people in this business to do business.”