Service Contracts Subject to the Shipping Act of 1984

This rule confirms as final the Federal Maritime Commission's interim rule governing service contracts between shippers and ocean common carriers to implement changes made to the Shipping Act of 1984 (``Act'') by the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 1998 (``OSRA''). The interim final rule implemented section 8(c) of the Act. The interim final rule is adopted as a final rule with certain changes. The final rule: revises the Commission's definition of ``motor vehicle'' in accordance with its regulation governing Carrier Automated Tariff Systems (Docket No.98-29); adds a limited exception to the filing requirements in cases of the Commission's electronic filing systems' malfunction; revises the requirements for registration for filing and cross-referencing for clarity; revises the regulation on ET publication to clarify where those for multiple carrier parties must appear; and carries forward certain exemptions from the requirements of the regulation which the Commission had granted in former part 514 of this chapter, but which had been inadvertently omitted from the interim final rule. The final rule also corrects a paragraph numbering error made in the section dealing with publication.