Section 16 of the Shipping Act of
1984, 46 U.S.C. 40103, authorizes the Federal Maritime Commission
to exempt by rule “any class of agreements between persons subject
to this Act or any specified activity of those persons from any
requirement of this Act if it finds that the exemption will not
result in substantial reduction in competition or be detrimental to
commerce. The Commission may attach conditions to any exemption and
may, by order, revoke any exemption.” The Commission added 46 CFR
531 to exempt non-vessel-operating common carriers (NVOCCs) from
the more stringent tariff rate publication requirements of the
Shipping Act of 1984 and related provisions of the Commission’s
regulations to permit them to enter into contracts with shippers
similar to ocean common carrier service contracts. 69 FR 75850
(Dec. 20, 2004). The exemption was conditioned upon the filing of
NVOCC service arrangements (NSAs) with the Commission by the NVOCC
offering the service; publication of the essential terms of NSAs;
and confidential treatment of NSAs. In addition, NVOCCs were
required to maintain NSAs and associated records for five years. In
2018, the Commission provided further relief of regulatory burdens
on NVOCC by removing the NSA filing requirements effective August
22, 2018. (83 FR 34780) The filing exemption is conditioned upon
the licensed NVOCC including a prominent notice invoking the
exemption in its electronically published rules tariff and
indicating their intention to the Commission. NVOCCs must continue
to maintain original NSAs and associated records for 5 years in a
format easily produced to the Commission, and provide those records
promptly upon request from the Commission. NVOCCs wishing to invoke
the exemption must: Including the terms listed in 46 CFR 531.6(b)
in their NSA; Abide by the prohibitions in 46 CFR 531.6(c); Assign
a unique NSA number to each agreement (46 CFR531.6(d)); Provide
electronic access to its rules tariffs to the public free of charge
(46 CFR 531.4(a); Indicate their intention to invoke the exemption
by including a prominent notice on its rules tariff (46 CFR
531.4(b); Maintain original NSAs, amendments, and their associated
records for five years from the termination of each NSA in a format
that is readily available and useable by Commission (46 CFR
531.12(a)); and Provide those records to the agency upon a written
request from the Commission (46 CFR 531.12(b)).
The recordkeeping requirement
burden increased; The Commission estimates that approximately 1,500
NVOCCs in total have invoked this exemption and would therefore be
subject to the recordkeeping requirements. The number of NVOCCs is
approximately 8,700, however only 325 NVOCCs on average filed an
NSA exemption annually during the past three years.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Part 531 background.docx
30 day FR Notice Parts 525; 530; 531; 532.pdf
Modification of Tariff Invoking Exemption to use NSAs