Federal Maritime Commission

Federal Maritime Commission
Agency overview
Formed	August 12, 1961
Jurisdiction	Federal government of the United States
Headquarters	Washington, DC, US
Agency executive	Dan Maffei, Chairman;
Website	https://www.fmc.gov/

The United States Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) is an independent agency of the United States government that is responsible for the regulation of oceanborne international transportation of the U.S.^[1] It is chaired by Daniel B. Maffei.^[2]

History

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.^[5]

Organization

Current commissioners

List of commissioners:^[6]

Chairman Daniel B. Maffei
Commissioner Rebecca F. Dye
Commissioner Louis E. Sola
Commissioner Carl Bentzel
Commissioner Max Vekich

Bureaus and offices

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

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

Regulations concerning Ocean Transport Intermediaries

Definitions

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.^[9]

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.^[10]

Licensing requirements

OTIs must be licensed by the FMC before they perform OTI services in the United States.^[11] Requirements for licensing are found at 46 CFR §§ 515.11-515.27.

Duties

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

Fees and compensation

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 former commissioners

Commissioner	Took office	Left office
Elaine Chao	April 29, 1988	April 19, 1989
William Hathaway	February 8, 1990	November 11, 1999
Ming C. Hsu	June 1990	December 1999
Delmond J.H. Won	August 1994	August 2003
Harold J. Creel, Jr.	August 17, 1994	June 30, 2009
John 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
Alan Paul Anderson	June 3, 2004	May 30, 2008
Richard A. Lidinsky, Jr.	September 11, 2009	April 1, 2013
Mario Cordero	June 3, 2011	January 23, 2017
William P. Doyle	January 1, 2013	January 2, 2018
Michael A. Khouri	January 23, 2017	February 15, 2022