[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 131 (Thursday, July 9, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 37088-37089]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-18160]
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FEDERAL MARITIME COMMISSION
46 CFR Part 514
[Docket No. 98-10]
Inquiry Into Automated Tariff Filing Systems as Proposed by the
Pending Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 1998
AGENCY: Federal Maritime Commission.
ACTION: Notice of Inquiry.
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SUMMARY: The purposes of this Inquiry are to determine an approach that
will produce automated tariff publication systems that best comport
with the directives of S. 414, the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 1998,
and its legislative history, and to determine whether ocean common
carriers should be required to file service contracts electronically.
The proposed legislation would alter, among other things, the manner by
which ocean common carriers publish their tariffs under the Shipping
Act of 1984, 46 U.S.C. app. Sec. 1701 et seq., by requiring them to
publish their tariffs in private automated tariff systems. Comments are
solicited on the possible requirements for such tariff filing systems
and on the electronic filing of service contracts and publication of
essential terms.
DATES: Comments due on or before August 10, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Send comments (original and 20 copies) to: Joseph C.
Polking, Secretary, Federal Maritime Commission, 800 North Capitol
Street, NW, Washington, DC 20573-0001, (202) 523-5725.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bryant L. VanBrakle, Director, Bureau
of Tariffs, Certification and Licensing, Federal Maritime Commission,
800 North Capitol Street, NW, Washington, DC 20573-0001, (202) 523-5796
and Thomas Panebianco, General Counsel, Federal Maritime Commission,
800 North Capitol Street, NW, Washington, DC 20573-0001, (202) 523-
5740.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 21, 1998, the Senate passed S. 414,
a bill entitled the ``Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 1998'' (``Reform
Act''). The bill was subsequently referred to the House of
Representatives, where it is presently awaiting either referral to
appropriate committees or a vote by the full House. If the latter
occurs prior to adjournment in the fall, the Federal Maritime
Commission (``FMC'' or ``Commission'') will have the task of proposing
and adopting rules to implement the Reform Act in a very short time
period, since the Reform Act generally takes effect on May 1, 1999, and
the bill requires final implementing regulations to be promulgated by
March 1, 1999.
The Reform Act amends the Shipping Act of 1984 (46 U.S.C. app.
Sec. 1701 et seq.) (``1984 Act'') in several areas, altering the manner
by which the United States regulates international ocean shipping. One
of the most significant changes is in the treatment of common carrier
tariffs, the publications which contain the rates and charges for their
transportation services. Currently, common carriers and conferences
must file their tariffs with the commission's Automated Tariff Filing
and Information System (``ATFI''). Under the Reform Act, carriers no
longer will have to file with the Commission, but will be required to
publish their rates in private, automated tariff systems. These tariffs
will have to be made available electronically to any person, without
time, quantity, or other limitation, through appropriate access from
remote locations, and a reasonable charge may be assessed for such
access, except for Federal agencies. In addition, the Commission is
charged with prescribing the requirements for the ``accessibility and
accuracy'' of these automated tariff systems, unlike the ``form and
manner'' requirements under the current law. The Commission also can
prohibit the use of such systems, if they fail to meet the requirements
it establishes.
It is against this background that the Commission is initiating
this inquiry to solicit comments from the ocean transportation industry
and the general public on how best to establish requirements for
carriers' automated tariff systems. Such comments should assist the
Commission in formulating and proposing a rule in this area in the
event that the House passes S. 414 and it is signed into law by the
President.
The primary function of the publication of tariffs is to provide
the shipping public with reliable information on the price and service
options to move particular commodities from point A to point B. This
information would necessarily include all applicable assesorials,
additional charges, and surcharges, so that the shipper can obtain a
``bottom-line'' price for the service it seeks. Consistent with the
Reform Act's common carriage principles, shippers should be able to use
this information to compare competing carriers' offerings and to assess
whether they are being
[[Page 37089]]
unreasonably discriminated against vis-a-vis their competitors. In
addition, public tariff information enables carriers to monitor their
competitors and adjust their pricing and service structures
accordingly.
A perhaps no less important function of tariff publication is to
permit the Commission to monitor the rate activity of carriers and
conferences. In light of the fact that the Reform Act would continue to
grant antitrust immunity for collective ratemaking, the ability to
monitor collectively-established rates remains particularly important.
The Commission also needs to be able to monitor carrier rate activity
to ensure that the prohibited acts in section 10 of the Reform Act are
not violated. In this regard, the Commission will always need a
historical record of rate activity, perhaps commensurate with the five
year statute of limitations in the Reform Act. In addition, the ability
to monitor the rate activity of controlled carriers is crucial to the
Commission's enforcement of the controlled carrier provisions of the
Reform Act.
The problem facing the Commission and the industry is how to
reconcile these basic purposes of tariff publication with the relative
discretion Congress would grant carriers to develop their own automated
tariff systems. The report of the Senate Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation, S. Rep. No. 61, 105th Cong., 1st Sess.
(1997) (``Committee Report''), is instructive in this regard. The
Committee noted that innovative private sector approaches, such as
World Wide Web pages, should be encouraged, stating that common
carriers should be free to develop their own means of tariff
publication. Committee Report at 23. Although the Committee reiterated
that there should be no government restraints on the design of a
private tariff publication system, it also stated that such systems
must assure the integrity of the common carrier's tariff and of the
tariff system as a whole and provide the appropriate level of public
access to tariff information. Id. The Committee also stated that tariff
information should be ``simplified and standardized.'' Id. The
Committee further noted that the Commission will retain its authority
to suspend or prohibit the use of tariffs found to violate the 1984 Act
or other U.S. shipping laws. Id. at 22-23.
As a point of reference, because ATFI uses uniform transaction sets
for tariff material,\1\ it presents tariff information uniformly, and
substantive tariff provisions are located identically within each
carrier's tariff. In addition, carriers are required to provide
electronic links within each tariff so that shippers can calculate a
bottom-line freight charge. Under ATFI, the Commission also validates,
among other things, specific ports and points listed to ensure
industry-wide uniformity and requires that equipment descriptions be
standardized.
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\1\ ATFI's transaction sets prescribe specific requirements as
to the data dictionary, field size, syntax, data elements, mandatory
and optional fields, format, and segment definitions.
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The question thus becomes how to meld the various Congressional
directives in the Reform Act and its legislative history to produce
tariff publication requirements that fully comport with the letter and
the spirit of the Reform Act. The Commission, therefore, is seeking
public comment on how best to achieve this goal. Commenters should feel
free to address any aspect of automated systems relevant to this
inquiry. However, we have proposed some questions that may focus
discussion in the proper direction:
1. What are the best methods for standardizing tariff information?
2. Should tariffs contain uniform rate/commodity/geographic scope
searching mechanisms?
3. Describe any available options for standardizing commodity
descriptions.
4. How can we ensure that the systems produce accurate bottom-line
freight charges for shippers?
5. Should carriers be required to use uniform transaction sets
(such as ATFI transaction sets) for the transmission of information in
automated tariff systems?
6. How long should systems be required to maintain historical
tariff information?
7. Describe how tariff systems can automatically block the
publication of unlawful rate actions (e.g., an increased cost to the
shipper published to become effective less than 30 calendar days after
publication; changes in a controlled carrier's tariff published to
become effective less than 30 days after publication)?
8. How can the systems give the Commission the ability to void
tariff material that contravenes the statute or its regulations?
9. How should tariff systems be structured to handle carrier
requests for Commission approval of deviations from its rules,
including increased costs to shippers to become effective less than 30
days after publication?
10. How can the Commission meet its responsibilities efficiently
under sections 5, 6, 9 and 10 of the Act if faced with nonuniform
tariff systems?
11. Could tariff systems be designed so that the Commission could
access certain functionalities that might not otherwise be available to
the general public (e.g., to generate ad hoc and recurring reports,
facilitate tariff review, and examines tariff's history)?
12. Could tariff systems be designed to automatically inform the
Commission when an amendment is made?
13. How can tariff systems be designed to facilitate the
Commission's suspension or prohibition of the use of tariffs or tariff
material found to violate the 1984 Act or other U.S. shipping laws?
14. What standards should the Commission apply to measure the
accuracy and accessibility of a carrier's automated tariff publication
system?
15. How can tariffs be simplified?
In a related matter, the Reform Act directs carriers to file their
service contracts with the Commission on a confidential basis. The
Reform Act does not specify that these filings be done electronically.
Service contracts under the 1984 Act are currently filed in paper form.
In FY 1997 the Commission received 10,500 new contracts and nearly
29,000 amendments. This compares with 9,400 contracts and 19,500
amendments in FY 1996. By all indications, the number of service
contract filings will continue to increase significantly, particularly
under a statutory scheme providing greater confidentiality in contract
terms. Accordingly, the Commission also is seeking comments in this
inquiry regarding the electronic filing of service contracts with the
Commission. Electronically filed service contracts, unlike the publicly
available essential terms, would be available only to the Commission
and its staff. Commenters favoring electronic filing may suggest
possible approaches for implementing such filing, including issues
regarding digitized signatures and text versus data format. Commenters
are also requested to address the issues as they relate to the
publication of certain essential terms in tariff format in private
automated systems.
Now therefore, It is ordered that this Notice of Inquiry be
published in the Federal Register.
By the Commission.
Ronald D. Murphy,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 98-18160 Filed 7-8-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6730-01-M
