Shanghai Shipping Exchange
The FMC received a request from the National Industrial Transportation League (NITL) on February 17, 2010 to informally pursue information and clarification on Chinese regulations for the filing of freight rates. Regulations requiring the filing of freight rate information to the Shanghai Shipping Exchange, and further administrative guidance were issued June 10, 2009. The FMC has obtained an English translation of The People’s Republic of China Ministry of Transport’s Public Notice Regarding Freight Rate Filing Implementation Measures for International Container Line Service. Below are copies of the correspondence:
On July 27, 2010, the Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China issued a circular with a proposed rule that would require Non-Vessel Operating Common Carriers (NVOCCs) to file their freight rates with the Shanghai Shipping Exchange. The Chinese Ministry of Transport stated that it was accepting public comment on the proposed rule through August 20, 2010, and that the rule was to be implemented "in the near future." On September 19, 2010, the Ministry of Transport issued a finalized version of its circular, which stated that the NVOCC filing rule takes effect on October 1, 2010, "with sixty days as the transitional period." On October 8, 2010, the Shanghai Shipping Exchange issued guidance on NVOCC freight filing. The freight filing requirement went into effect on December 1, 2010.
On September 10, 2010, FMC Chairman Richard A. Lidinsky, Jr. and representatives from the U.S. Consulate General Shanghai met with the President and senior officers of the Shanghai Shipping Exchange and discussed rate filing and confidentiality protections. On October 18, 2010, FMC General Counsel Rebecca Fenneman and representatives from the U.S. State Department and U.S. Consulate General Shanghai also met with Shanghai Shipping Exchange representatives to discuss these issues in more detail. In addition, the U.S. and the People’s Republic of China discussed rate filing at the Shanghai Shipping Exchange and related issues at the 4th US-PRC Consultations on the Maritime Bilateral Agreement held in Dalian, China on October 20-21, 2010. The bilateral discussion is reflected in the Agreed Minutes, US-China Consultations, Dalian, China 2010. On December 3, 2010, Chairman Lidinsky sent NITL a letter summarizing this series of discussions.
The FMC commissioned an English translation of The People's Republic of China Ministry of Transport's Notice on the Trial Implementation of Non-Vessel Operating Common Carrier Security Deposit Liability Insurance of 2010.