{"id":2086,"date":"2018-09-07T15:43:09","date_gmt":"2018-09-07T19:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"\/?page_id=2086"},"modified":"2024-02-23T15:21:50","modified_gmt":"2024-02-23T19:21:50","slug":"vessel-operating-common-carriers","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"\/resources-services\/vessel-operating-common-carriers\/","title":{"rendered":"Vessel-Operating Common Carriers"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Vessel-Operating Common Carriers<\/h1>\n<p>A Vessel-Operating Common Carrier (VOCC) or ocean common carrier:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>holds itself out to the general public to provide transportation by water of passengers or cargo between the United States and a foreign country for compensation,<\/li>\n<li>assumes responsibility for the transportation from the port or point of receipt to the port or point of destination, and<\/li>\n<li>operates, for all or part of that transportation, a vessel operating on the high seas or the Great Lakes between a port in the United States and a port in a foreign country.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Publication of Tariffs<\/h2>\n<p>Under Commission rules for VOCCs:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>All new VOCCs must notify the Commission prior to commencement of operations\u202f(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecfr.gov\/current\/title-46\/section-520.3\">46 CFR\u202f\u00a7 520.3<\/a>)\u202fusing\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/www2.fmc.gov\/Form1\">Form FMC-1<\/a>. Any changes to the contact information must be updated within 30 days using the FMC-1.<\/li>\n<li>All VOCCs \u202fmust publish a tariff\u202f(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecfr.gov\/current\/title-46\/section-520.3\">46 CFR \u00a7 520.3<\/a>). Tariffs must be open for public inspection and show all rates, charges, classifications, rules, and practices between all points or ports on their service routes.<\/li>\n<li>VOCCs must provide the public with free access to their tariff publication system. (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecfr.gov\/current\/title-46\/part-520\/section-520.9#p-520.9(c)(2)\">46 CFR 520.9(c)(2)<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>The Commission publishes a<a href=\"https:\/\/www2.fmc.gov\/FMC1Users\/scripts\/ExtReports.asp?tariffClass=vocc\">\u202flist of all carrier tariffs<\/a>\u202fand a\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/www2.fmc.gov\/FMC1Users\/scripts\/ExtReports.asp?tariffClass=conf\">list of conference tariffs<\/a> on its website.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Please see the below relevant industry advisories:<\/p>\n<div class=\"su-posts su-posts-teaser-loop\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"su-post-8105\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<p><a href=\"\/fmc-announces-hearing-on-shipping-conditions-in-the-red-sea\/\">Commission Advisory Regarding Red Sea Surcharges<\/a> <br \/>\n\nPosted: January 12, 2024\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"su-post-8093\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<p><a href=\"\/industry-advisory-requiring-no-cost-access-to-tariff-publication-systems\/\">Industry Advisory \u2013 Requiring No Cost Access to Tariff Publication Systems<\/a> <br \/>\n\nPosted: January 4, 2024\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"su-post-7788\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<p><a href=\"\/industry-advisory-requirements-for-doing-business-with-nvoccs-and-offs\/\">Industry Advisory \u2014 Requirements for Doing Business with NVOCCs and OFFs<\/a> <br \/>\n\nPosted: July 13, 2023\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"su-post-7714\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<p><a href=\"\/industry-advisory-requirement-to-file-timely-and-accurate-service-contracts\/\">Industry Advisory \u2013 Requirement to File Timely and Accurate Service Contracts<\/a> <br \/>\n\nPosted: June 2, 2023\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"su-post-7375\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<p><a href=\"\/industry-advisory-requirement-to-maintain-accurate-information-on-fmc-form-fmc-1\/\">Industry Advisory\u2014Requirement to Maintain Accurate Information on FMC Form FMC-1<\/a> <br \/>\n\nPosted: January 10, 2023\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<h2>VOCC Agreements Required to be Filed with the FMC<\/h2>\n<p>Agreements among ocean common carriers must be filed with the FMC\u202f(<a href=\"https:\/\/uscode.house.gov\/view.xhtml?path=\/prelim@title46\/subtitle4\/partA&edition=prelim\">46 USC \u00a7 40302<\/a>) unless specifically exempted by Commission regulations at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecfr.gov\/current\/title-46\/chapter-IV\/subchapter-B\/part-535\">46 CFR part 535<\/a>. Examples of ocean common carrier agreements include the following:<\/p>\n<p>The FMC conducts a preliminary review of all agreements to determine if the agreement is in compliance with\u202fthe Shipping Act and monitors ongoing activities once an agreement becomes effective.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/resources-services\/filing-carrier-mto-agreements\/\">Agreement Examples and How to File an Agreement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Special Permission Applications<\/h2>\n<p>Applications for Special Permission to waive the notice period requirement for certain tariff publications may be filed pursuant to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecfr.gov\/current\/title-46\/chapter-IV\/subchapter-B\/part-520#520.14\">46 CFR 520.14<\/a>, and are posted below.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Who is eligible<\/strong> \u2013 Common carriers (VOCCs and NVOCCs) and conferences may apply to establish rate increases or decreases on less than the statutory notice, or may apply for a waiver of the provisions of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecfr.gov\/current\/title-46\/chapter-IV\/subchapter-B\/part-520\">46 CFR part 520<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Application process<\/strong> \u2013 Application instructions may be found at 46 CFR 520.14<\/li>\n<li><strong>Where to file<\/strong> \u2013 Submit your application to the Bureau of Trade Analysis by letter, which may be mailed or sent by email to <a href=\"mailto:tradeanalysis@fmc.gov\">tradeanalysis@fmc.gov<\/a>, and include evidence of payment<\/li>\n<li><strong>Filing fee<\/strong> – Filing fee information is available on the <a href=\"\/resources-services\/summary-of-fees\/\">Summary of Fees page<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Contact Information<\/h2>\n<p>Phone: 202-523-5793<\/p>\n<p>E-mail: <a href=\"mailto:tradeanalysis@fmc.gov\">tradeanalysis@fmc.gov<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Vessel-Operating Common Carriers A Vessel-Operating Common Carrier (VOCC) or ocean common carrier: holds itself out to the general public to provide transportation by water of passengers or cargo between the United States and a foreign country for compensation, assumes responsibility for the transportation from the port or point of receipt... <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"\/industry-advisory-requirement-to-maintain-accurate-information-on-fmc-form-fmc-1\/\">Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"parent":2050,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fmc.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2086"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fmc.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fmc.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fmc.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fmc.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2086"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/www.fmc.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8242,"href":"https:\/\/www.fmc.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2086\/revisions\/8242"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fmc.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fmc.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}