Signed into law by President Joe Biden on June 16th, the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 (OSRA-22), was passed to implement sweeping changes to the ocean shipping industry. Though much of the focus has been on immediately addressing the past several years of port congestion, delays, and rising costs - language within the act specifically covers the detention and demurrage fees that have long been contentious issues and cause for frustration shippers long before the pandemic.
Our team of experts have pulled together the following quick summary of essential takeaways shippers should be aware of.
- OSRA-22 – The first major shipping reform legislation in over 20 years signed was into law on June 16th, 2022.
- Defines discriminatory practices by ocean carriers against customers and sets standards for national registered shipping exchanges within three years.
- Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) to receive $164,000,000 allocation through 2025, increase in budget will allow for the hiring of more staff including another administrative law judge to increase monitoring of international ocean transportation and initiate rulemaking for fair export practices.
- FMC is authorized to issue an emergency order to determine if congestion has created an adverse effect on international ocean transportation supply chain’s competitiveness and reliability.
- FMC will review chassis pool best practices through a collaborative study with the independent Transportation Research Board.
- Requires analysis into technology at US ports and whether more technology could help decrease the costs of labor and handling cargo, report required within one year.
- Review use of inland ports to store and transfer containers by joining the US Department of Transportation, US Maritime Administration, FMC, representatives of ports, ocean carriers, export terminals, trucking, and railroad companies.
- The potential practice of canceled, better known as blank sailings, can be reviewed under OSRA to ensure fair business practice by ocean carriers.
- Ocean carriers will be mandated to provide detailed quarterly inventory of their loaded exports, imports, and empty export containers.
- The bill will also enable the FMC to register shipping exchanges and review intermodal chassis pool and chassis supply.
We will keep you updated on any new developments regarding this issue. In the meantime, please continue to check out our INSIGHTS and NEWS pages for the latest information.
Should you need further information or have any concerns or queries, please contact your Laufer sales or customer service representative.