Service Contracts Subject to the Shipping Act of 1984

The Federal Maritime Commission (``Commission'' or ``FMC'') proposes to revise its regulations governing service contracts between shippers and ocean common carriers to reflect changes made to the Shipping Act of 1984 (``1984 Act''), the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 1998 and the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 1998). Specifically, the Commission proposes to revise its regulations implementing section 8(c) of the 1984 Act and create a new regulation which would govern only service contract filings. The Commission is proposing to establish new rules for service contract filing and essential terms publication, revise its regulations to include the newly permitted agreement and multiple shipper-party service contracts, and make other conforming changes. The Commission is also proposing an electronic filing system for service contracts which is intended to reduce the filing burden on parties and accommodate the efficient processing and review of what is predicted to be a large number of filed contracts.