Federal Maritime Commission 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Federal Maritime Commission (``FMC'' or ``Commission'') is issuing this Notice of Inquiry (``NOI'') to solicit public comment on informal requests the Commission has received from some large U.S. exporters and intermediaries to develop and release container freight indices for U.S. agricultural exports. The Commission is seeking written comments and information from U.S. exporters, intermediaries, ocean carriers, and any other interested parties on (1) Whether and to what extent the shipping public would find targeted U.S. export rate indices beneficial; (2) whether the Commission should extract rate information from service contracts or whether suitable alternatives exist; (3) the positive and negative influences on the export commodities and ocean transportation marketplaces of the greater transparency such indices might provide; and (4) whether, these indices, if developed, should be commodity specific for different prescribed routes or whether more broadly based indices would meet U.S. exporters' needs.

The Federal Maritime Commission is issuing this Notice of Inquiry seeking comments on its rules which exempt non-vessel-operating common carriers who enter into service arrangements from certain tariff filing requirements of the Shipping Act of 1984.

The Federal Maritime Commission proposes to amend Subpart E (Proceedings; Pleadings; Motions; Replies) and Subpart L (Depositions, Written Interrogatories, and Discovery) of its Rules of Practice and Procedure to update and clarify the rules and to reduce the burden on parties to proceedings before the Commission.