Jump to content

Federal Maritime Commission

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with United States Maritime Administration.

Federal Maritime Commission
Agency overview
FormedAugust 12, 1961; 62 years ago (August 12, 1961)
JurisdictionFederal government of the United States
HeadquartersWashington, DC, US
Agency executive
Websitehttps://www.fmc.gov/

The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates U.S. oceanborne transportation and the United States Merchant Marine.[1] It is chaired by Daniel B. Maffei.[2]

History

[edit]

The FMC was established as an independent regulatory agency by Reorganization Plan No. 7, effective August 12, 1961. Prior to that time, the United States Federal Maritime Board was responsible for both the regulation of ocean commerce and the promotion of the United States Merchant Marine. Under the reorganization plan, the shipping laws of the U.S. were separated into two categories, regulatory and promotional. The newly created FMC was charged with the administration of the regulatory provisions of the shipping laws, while the promotional role was vested in the Maritime Administration (now part of the U.S. Department of Transportation).[3]

The passage of the Shipping Act of 1984 brought about a major deregulatory change in the regulatory regime facing shipping companies operating in the U.S. foreign commerce. The subsequent passage of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 1998, with its further deregulatory amendments and modifications to the Shipping Act of 1984, represented another pro-market shift in shipping regulation. The principle statutes or statutory provisions administered by the Commission are: the Shipping Act of 1984, the Foreign Shipping Practices Act of 1988, section 19 of the Merchant Marine Act, 1920, and Public Law 89-777.

Most of these statutes were amended by the Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA) of 1998,[4] which took effect on May 1, 1999, and the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022.[5][6]

Organization

[edit]

Current commissioners

[edit]

List of commissioners:[7]

Name Party Took office Term expires
Dan Maffei (Chair) Democratic June 30, 2016 (as Commissioner); March 29, 2021 (as Chair) June 30, 2027
Rebecca F. Dye Independent November 14, 2002 June 30, 2025
Louis E. Sola Republican January 23, 2019 June 30, 2023
Carl Bentzel Democratic December 9, 2019 June 30, 2024
Max Vekich Democratic February 15, 2022 June 30, 2026

Bureaus and offices

[edit]

List of bureaus and offices:[7]

  • Office of Equal Employment Opportunity
  • Office of the Inspector General
  • Office of the Administrative Law Judges
  • Office of Consumer Affairs and Dispute Resolution Services
  • Office of the General Counsel
  • Office of The Secretary
  • Office of the Managing Director
    • Office of Budget and Finance
    • Office of Human Resources
    • Office of Information Technology
    • Office of Management Services
  • Bureau of Enforcement
  • Bureau of Certification and Licensing
  • Bureau of Trade Analysis
  • Area Representatives

Regulations of the FMC

[edit]

Regulations of the FMC are found at 46 C.F.R. Chapter IV.

Regulations concerning Ocean Transport Intermediaries

[edit]

Definitions

[edit]

The FMC regulations regulate the activities of Ocean Transport Intermediaries (OTIs) in the US. The FMC regulations define OTI to include two classes of logistics service providers: (1) ocean freight forwarders and (2) non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCCs).[8]

The FMC regulations define "ocean freight forwarder" as a person that (i) in the United States, dispatches shipments from the United States via a common carrier and books or otherwise arranges space for those shipments on behalf of shippers and (ii) processes the documentation or performs related activities incident to those shipments.[8]

The FMC regulations define "NVOCC" as a common carrier that does not operate the vessels by which the ocean transportation is provided, and is a shipper in its relationship with an ocean common carrier.[8]

Licensing requirements

OTIs must be licensed by the FMC before they perform OTI services in the United States.[9] Requirements for licensing are found at 46 CFR §§ 515.11-515.27.

Duties

[edit]

The FMC regulations define duties with which OTIs must comply at 46 CFR §§ 515.31-515.34.

Fees and compensation

[edit]

The FMC regulations set out certain rules regarding fees that freight forwarders may charge to their customers and compensation that freight forwarders may receive from carriers at 46 CFR §§ 515.41-515.91.

List of commissioners

[edit]
Portrait Commissioner[10] Took office Left office
John Harllee August 1961 June 1969
Ashton C. Barrett February 1962 June 1977
Thomas E. Stakem February 1962 June 1963
James V. Day February 1962 June 1984
John S. Patterson February 1962 September 1966
George H. Hearn July 1964 June 1978
James F. Fanseen March 1967 June 1971
Helen Delich Bentley June 1970 June 1975
Clarence G. Morse October 1971 June 1976
Karl E. Bakke November 1975 June 1977
Robert R. Casey January 1976 September 1977
Richard J. Daschbach August 1977 October 1982
Thomas F. Moakley October 1977 October 1988
Leslie Kanuk June 1978 June 1981
Peter N. Teige June 1980 September 1981
Alan Green Jr. June 1981 June 1985
James J. Carey October 1981 June 1990
Robert Setrakian May 1983 August 1985
Edward J. Philbin March 1985 December 1989
Frank Ivancie November 1985 June 1992
Edward Hickey Jr. November 1985 January 1988
Elaine Chao April 29, 1988 April 19, 1989
William Hathaway February 8, 1990 November 11, 1999
Rob Quartel April 1990 June 1994
Ming C. Hsu June 1990 December 1999
Chris Koch October 1990 March 1994
Joe Scroggins Jr. June 1994 June 2000
Delmond J. H. Won August 1994 August 2003
Harold J. Creel Jr. August 17, 1994 June 30, 2009
John A. Moran October 21, 1998 April 2002
Joseph E. Brennan November 10, 1999 January 1, 2013
Antony M. Merck January 2000 December 2001
Steven R. Blust August 12, 2002 June 30, 2006
Rebecca F. Dye November 14, 2002 present
A. Paul Anderson August 22, 2003 May 30, 2008
Richard A. Lidinsky Jr. July 31, 2009 April 1, 2013
Michael Khouri December 2009 February 15, 2022
Mario Cordero June 3, 2011 January 23, 2017
William P. Doyle January 1, 2013 January 2, 2018
Dan Maffei June 30, 2016 present
Louis E. Sola January 23, 2019 present
Carl Bentzel December 9, 2019 present
Max Vekich February 15, 2022 present

Responsibility for U.S. merchant shipping has been held by different federal agencies since 1917. For a history, see United States Shipping Board.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "About the FMC". FMC. US Government. Archived from the original on July 10, 2013. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
  2. ^ Chambers, Sam (March 31, 2021). "Daniel Maffei designated chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission". Splash247. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  3. ^ "Agencies - Federal Maritime Commission". Federal Register. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  4. ^ FMC: The Ocean Shipping Reform Act: An Interim Status Report (June 2000). pdf, 48 p.
  5. ^ Block, Steve (October 1, 2010). ""The Shipping Act of 2010": the Evolution Continues …". forwarderlaw.com. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
  6. ^ "President Biden Signs Cantwell-Championed Ocean Shipping Reform Act". U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation. June 16, 2022. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Bureaus & Offices". FMC. Archived from the original on April 11, 2019. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  8. ^ a b c "eCFR — Code of Federal Regulations". www.ecfr.gov. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  9. ^ "eCFR — Code of Federal Regulations". www.ecfr.gov. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  10. ^ Federal Regulatory Guide. CQ Press. 2020. ISBN 978-1-5443-7726-1.
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Federal Maritime Commission.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Federal_Maritime_Commission&oldid=1233076590"