Ocean Shipping Reform Implementation Act of 2023

IIB 118TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 1836 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 22, 2024 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation AN ACT To amend title 46, United States Code, to make technical corrections with respect to ocean shipping authorities, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:19 Mar 23, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1836.RFS H1836 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 HR 1836 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ocean Shipping Re- 2 form Implementation Act of 2023’’. 3 TITLE I—FEDERAL MARITIME 4 COMMISSION 5 SEC. 101. PURPOSES. 6 Section 40101 of title 46, United States Code, is 7 amended— 8 (1) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘with’’ and all 9 that follows through ‘‘regulatory costs’’; 10 (2) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘in the ocean 11 commerce of the United States’’ and inserting ‘‘for 12 the common carriage of goods by water in the for- 13 eign commerce of the United States’’; 14 (3) in paragraph (3) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 15 end; 16 (4) in paragraph (4)— 17 (A) by striking ‘‘promote’’ and inserting 18 ‘‘support’’; and 19 (B) by striking ‘‘, and’’ and all that follows 20 through the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 21 (5) by adding at the end the following: 22 ‘‘(5) promote reciprocal trade in the common 23 carriage of goods by water in the foreign commerce 24 of the United States.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:19 Mar 23, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1836.RFS H1836 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 HR 1836 RFS SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 40102(9) of title 46, 2 United States Code, is amended— 3 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and 4 (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively and by mov- 5 ing the margins of clauses (i) and (ii), as redesig- 6 nated, accordingly; 7 (2) by striking ‘‘means an ocean common car- 8 rier’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘means— 9 ‘‘(A) an ocean common carrier’’; 10 (3) in subparagraph (A)(ii), as so redesignated, 11 by striking the period and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 12 (4) by adding at the end the following: 13 ‘‘(B) such a carrier that is owned or con- 14 trolled by, a subsidiary of, or otherwise related 15 legally or financially (other than a minority re- 16 lationship or investment) to a corporation based 17 in a country— 18 ‘‘(i) identified as a nonmarket econ- 19 omy country (as defined in section 771(18) 20 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 21 1677(18))) as of the date of enactment of 22 this paragraph; 23 ‘‘(ii) identified by the United States 24 Trade Representative in the most recent 25 report required by section 182 of the 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:19 Mar 23, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1836.RFS H1836 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 HR 1836 RFS Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2242) as a 1 priority foreign country under subsection 2 (a)(2) of that section; or 3 ‘‘(iii) subject to monitoring by the 4 United States Trade Representative under 5 section 306 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 6 U.S.C. 2416).’’. 7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 8 46106(b)(7) of title 46, United States Code, is amended 9 by striking ‘‘ocean common carriers, particularly such car- 10 riers that are controlled carriers’’ and all that follows 11 through the period at the end and inserting ‘‘controlled 12 carriers;’’. 13 SEC. 103. COMPLAINTS AGAINST SHIPPING EXCHANGES. 14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 40504(c) of title 46, 15 United States Code, is amended— 16 (1) in the subsection heading by striking ‘‘EX- 17 EMPTION’’ and inserting ‘‘EXEMPTION AND INVES- 18 TIGATION’’; 19 (2) by striking the period at the end and insert- 20 ing ‘‘; and’’; 21 (3) by striking ‘‘may exempt’’ and inserting the 22 following: ‘‘may— 23 ‘‘(1) exempt’’; and 24 (4) by adding at the end the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:19 Mar 23, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1836.RFS H1836 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 HR 1836 RFS ‘‘(2) investigate complaints submitted under 1 section 40505.’’. 2 (b) COMPLAINTS AGAINST SHIPPING EXCHANGES.— 3 Chapter 405 of title 46, United States Code, is amended 4 by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘§ 40505. Complaints against shipping exchanges 6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A person may submit to the 7 Federal Maritime Commission, and the Commission shall 8 accept, information concerning alleged incidents of market 9 manipulation or other anticompetitive practices by ship- 10 ping exchanges registered under section 40504. 11 ‘‘(b) INVESTIGATION.—Upon receipt of a submission 12 of information under subsection (a), the Commission shall 13 promptly investigate the accuracy of such information. 14 ‘‘(c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Commission shall 15 submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infra- 16 structure of the House of Representatives and the Com- 17 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 18 Senate the results of any investigation in which the Com- 19 mission finds incidents of market manipulation or anti- 20 competitive practices by shipping exchanges registered 21 under section 40504.’’. 22 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap- 23 ter 405 of title 46, United States Code, is amended by 24 adding at the end the following: 25 ‘‘40505. Complaints against shipping exchanges.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:19 Mar 23, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H1836.RFS H1836 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 HR 1836 RFS SEC. 104. REPEAL. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 40706 of title 46, United 2 States Code, is repealed. 3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap- 4 ter 407 of title 46, United States Code, is amended by 5 striking the item relating to section 40706. 6 SEC. 105. DATA COLLECTION. 7 Section 41110 of title 46, United States Code, is 8 amended— 9 (1) by striking ‘‘The Federal Maritime Commis- 10 sion’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) QUARTERLY REPORT.—The 11 Federal Maritime Commission’’; and 12 (2) by adding at the end the following: 13 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION ON DUPLICATION.—Unless the 14 data described in paragraphs (1) and (2) is not available 15 in a timely manner or in a form that allows the Commis- 16 sion to meet the requirements of subsection (a), data re- 17 quired to be reported under subsection (a) may not dupli- 18 cate information— 19 ‘‘(1) submitted to the Corps of Engineers pur- 20 suant to section 11 of the Act entitled ‘An Act au- 21 thorizing the construction, repair, and preservation 22 of certain public works on rivers and harbors, and 23 for other purposes’, approved September 22, 1922 24 (33 U.S.C. 555), by an ocean common carrier acting 25 as a vessel operator; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:19 Mar 23, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1836.RFS H1836 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 HR 1836 RFS ‘‘(2) submitted pursuant to section 481 of the 1 Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1481) to U.S. Cus- 2 toms and Border Protection by merchandise import- 3 ers; or 4 ‘‘(3) submitted to the Department of Commerce 5 pursuant to section 301 of title 13.’’. 6 SEC. 106. NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEES. 7 (a) NATIONAL SHIPPER ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 8 Section 42502 of title 46, United States Code, is amend- 9 ed— 10 (1) in subsection (a) by striking ‘‘Committee.’’ 11 and inserting ‘‘Committee (in this section referred to 12 as the ‘Shipper Committee’).’’; 13 (2) by striking subsection (b); 14 (3) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub- 15 section (b); and 16 (4) in subsection (b), as so redesignated, by 17 striking ‘‘Committee’’ each place it appears and in- 18 serting ‘‘Shipper Committee’’. 19 (b) NATIONAL PORT ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—Chap- 20 ter 425 of title 46, United States Code, is amended— 21 (1) by redesignating section 42503 as section 22 42506; and 23 (2) by inserting after section 42502 the fol- 24 lowing: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:19 Mar 23, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1836.RFS H1836 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8 HR 1836 RFS ‘‘§ 42503. National Port Advisory Committee 1 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a Na- 2 tional Port Advisory Committee (in this section referred 3 to as the ‘Port Committee’). 4 ‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP.— 5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Port Committee shall 6 consist of 13 members appointed by the Commission 7 in accordance with this section. 8 ‘‘(2) EXPERTISE.—Each member of the Port 9 Committee shall have particular expertise, knowl- 10 edge, and experience in matters relating to the func- 11 tion of the Port Committee. 12 ‘‘(3) REPRESENTATION.—Members of the Port 13 Committee shall be appointed as follows: 14 ‘‘(A) 5 members shall represent marine 15 terminal operators, as defined in section 40102. 16 ‘‘(B) 5 members shall represent port au- 17 thorities. 18 ‘‘(C) 3 members shall represent longshore 19 and maritime labor. 20 ‘‘§ 42504. National Ocean Carrier Advisory Committee 21 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a Na- 22 tional Ocean Carrier Advisory Committee (in this section 23 referred to as the Carrier Committee’). 24 ‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:19 Mar 23, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1836.RFS H1836 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9 HR 1836 RFS ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Carrier Committee 1 shall consist of 9 members appointed by the Com- 2 mission in accordance with this section. 3 ‘‘(2) EXPERTISE.—Each member of the Carrier 4 Committee shall have particular expertise, knowl- 5 edge, and experience in matters relating to the func- 6 tion of the Committee. 7 ‘‘(3) REPRESENTATION.—Members of the Car- 8 rier Committee shall represent ocean carriers serving 9 such seaports and terminals, of which at least three 10 shall be ocean transportation intermediaries (as such 11 term is defined in section 40102)’’. 12 ‘‘§ 42505. Function 13 ‘‘The covered Committees shall advise the Federal 14 Maritime Commission on policies relating to the competi- 15 tiveness, reliability, and efficiency of the international 16 ocean freight delivery system.’’. 17 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 18 (1) DEFINITIONS.—Section 42501 of title 46, 19 United States Code, is amended by striking para- 20 graph (2) and inserting the following: 21 ‘‘(2) COVERED COMMITTEE.—The term ‘cov- 22 ered Committee’ means— 23 ‘‘(A) the National Shipper Advisory Com- 24 mittee established under section 42502; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:19 Mar 23, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1836.RFS H1836 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 10 HR 1836 RFS ‘‘(B) the National Seaport Advisory Com- 1 mittee established under section 42503; and 2 ‘‘(C) the National Ocean Carrier Advisory 3 Committee established under section 52504.’’. 4 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—Section 42506 of title 5 46, United States Code, as redesignated by sub- 6 section (b)(1), is amended— 7 (A) by striking ‘‘The Committee’’ each 8 place it appears except in subsection (k) and in- 9 serting ‘‘Each covered Committee’’; 10 (B) in subsection (a) by striking ‘‘the 11 Committee’’ and inserting ‘‘each such Com- 12 mittee’’; 13 (C) in subsections (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), and 14 (j) by striking ‘‘the Committee’’ each place it 15 appears and inserting ‘‘a covered Committee’’; 16 (D) in subsection (h)— 17 (i) in paragraph (1)— 18 (I) by striking ‘‘Chair of the 19 Committee’’ and inserting ‘‘Chair of 20 each covered Committee’’; and 21 (II) by striking ‘‘function of the 22 Committee’’ and inserting ‘‘function 23 of the applicable Committee’’; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:19 Mar 23, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1836.RFS H1836 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 11 HR 1836 RFS (ii) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘the 1 Committee’’ and inserting ‘‘each covered 2 Committee’’; 3 (E) in subsection (i)— 4 (i) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘the 5 Committee if the function of the Com- 6 mittee’’ and inserting ‘‘any relevant cov- 7 ered Committee if the function of such 8 Committee’’; 9 (ii) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘the 10 Committee’’ and inserting ‘‘each such 11 Committee’’; 12 (iii) in paragraph (3)— 13 (I) by striking ‘‘from the Com- 14 mittee’’ and inserting ‘‘from a covered 15 Committee’’; and 16 (II) in subparagraph (B) by 17 striking ‘‘to the Committee’’ and in- 18 serting ‘‘to the submitting Com- 19 mittee’’; and 20 (iv) in paragraph (4) by striking 21 ‘‘from the Committee’’ and inserting ‘‘from 22 a covered Committee’’; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:19 Mar 23, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1836.RFS H1836 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 12 HR 1836 RFS (F) in subsection (k) by striking ‘‘The 1 Committee’’ and inserting ‘‘Covered Commit- 2 tees’’. 3 SEC. 107. ANNUAL REPORT AND PUBLIC DISCLOSURES. 4 (a) REPORT ON FOREIGN LAWS AND PRACTICES.— 5 Section 46106(b) of title 46, United States Code, is 6 amended— 7 (1) in paragraph (6)— 8 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 9 (B) by striking ‘‘under this part’’ and in- 10 serting ‘‘under chapter 403’’; 11 (2) in paragraph (7)— 12 (A) by inserting ‘‘anticompetitive, non- 13 reciprocal trade, or’’ before ‘‘otherwise con- 14 cerning practices’’; 15 (B) by inserting ‘‘or marine terminal oper- 16 ators’’ after ‘‘controlled carriers’’; and 17 (C) by striking the period at the end and 18 inserting a semicolon; and 19 (3) by adding at the end the following: 20 ‘‘(8) an analysis of any trade imbalance result- 21 ing from the business practices of ocean common 22 carriers, including an analysis of the data collected 23 under section 41110; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:19 Mar 23, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1836.RFS H1836 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 13 HR 1836 RFS ‘‘(9) the aggregated findings and results of the 1 Vessel-Operating Common Carrier Audit Program 2 established by the Commission on July 18, 2021, 3 pursuant to the Commission rule interpreting section 4 41102(c).’’. 5 (b) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE.—Section 46106(d)(2) of 6 title 46, United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘or 7 marine terminal operator’’ after ‘‘common carrier’’. 8 SEC. 108. CONTAINERIZED FREIGHT INDEXES. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 10 date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Maritime Com- 11 mission shall promulgate an advance notice of proposed 12 rulemaking on price indexes for containerized ocean 13 freight for shippers (as such term is defined in section 14 40102 of title 46, United States Code) in the United 15 States published by a shipping exchange r [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]