FMC Reviewing Carrier Practices Involving Supply of Containers to Inland Ag Exporters

The Federal Maritime Commission is probing whether ocean carriers are refusing to supply containers to inland U.S. agricultural exporters in order to send more empty containers to Asia, FMC Chairman Michael Khouri said. Those actions may violate FMC regulations, he said, including the Shipping Act. “This abandonment of a significant U.S. export industry -- the American agricultural industry -- is shutting them out of global markets,” Khouri said during the Dec. 8 Global Maritime Conference. “We are looking into all potential -- I repeat -- all potential responsive actions.”

Khouri also said the FMC is “watching closely” to see whether carriers are complying with the commission’s May rule on detention and demurrage fees (see 2004290037). The FMC launched an investigation into the carrier practices last month (see 2011200024) after receiving industry complaints (see 2009140045 and 2011170041). “We continue to hear increasing serious concerns and creditable complaints from shippers and other stakeholders, such as port trucker groups, about how the ocean carriers, ports and terminals are assessing unfair detention and demurrage charges,” Khouri said. He said the commission has a “responsibility to investigate serious impediments to performance in our major port gateways.”