TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Title I: Ocean Shipping Reform
Title II: Controlled Carriers Amendments
Title III: Elimination of the Federal Maritime Commission
Title IV: Miscellaneous Provisions
Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 1995 - Title I: Ocean Shipping Reform - Amends the Shipping Act of 1984 to include as one of its purposes the granting of authority to carriers and shippers to develop transportation arrangements to meet their specific needs.
(Sec. 102) Redefines the term "conference," with respect to an association of ocean carriers permitted, pursuant to an approved agreement, to engage in concerted activity, to change "common tariff," which they all utilize, to "common schedule of transportation rates, charges, classifications, rules, and practices." Defines ocean freight forwarder and shippers' association.
(Sec. 103) Revises the scope of the Shipping Act of 1984, with respect to certain agreements by or among ocean common carriers, to: (1) substitute "ocean freight forwarders" for "non-vessel-operating common carriers" in exclusive, preferential, or cooperative working arrangements with ocean common carriers covered by the Act; and (2) cover agreements that discuss any matter related to ocean transportation contracts, and enter ocean transportation contracts and agreements related to those contracts. Repeals coverage of agreements to regulate or prohibit the use of service contracts.
(Sec. 104) Revises provisions relating to individual and independent actions on certain matters by members of a shipping conference agreement.
(Sec. 106) Repeals the mandate for an automated tariff filing and information system.
Revises provisions relating to: (1) schedules of transportation rates, terms, and conditions of common carriers and conferences for transportation services not governed by an ocean transportation contract; (2) ocean transportation contracts between one or more common carriers and a conference and one or more shippers; and (3) prohibited acts by persons or common carriers with respect to the provision of ocean transportation services.
(Sec. 109) Amends the Foreign Shipping Practices Act of 1988 with respect to actions that the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) may take against foreign carriers whose practices in a foreign country result in conditions that adversely affect U.S. carriers in the oceanborne trade, and do not exist for foreign carriers of that country in the United States.
(Sec. 110) Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) to request the Secretary of the Treasury to refuse or revoke any clearance required for a common carrier vessel if such carrier fails to supply certain information in an FMC investigation or adjudicatory proceeding.
(Sec. 114) Revises certain license and bond requirements with respect to ocean freight forwarders.
Prohibits a conference or group of two or more ocean common carriers in foreign commerce that is authorized to agree upon the compensation paid to an ocean freight forwarder from: (1) denying to any member of such group or conference the right to take independent action on compensation paid to an ocean freight forwarder; or (2) agreeing to limit such compensation to less than 1.25 percent of the aggregate of all rates applicable and assessed under a common schedule of transportation rates against the cargo concerned.
(Sec. 117) Requires marine terminal operators to make available to the public any schedules of rates, regulations, and practices, including limitations of liability, pertaining to receiving, delivering, handling, or storing property at its marine terminal.
Title II: Controlled Carriers Amendments - Revises provisions concerning the unjustness and unreasonableness of controlled carrier rates.
(Sec. 201) Declares that the rate standards, information submissions, remedies, reviews, and penalties under the Shipping Act of 1984 shall apply to ocean common carriers that are not controlled, but which have been determined by the Secretary to be structurally or financially affiliated with nontransportation entities or organizations (government or private) in such a way as to affect their pricing or marketplace behavior in an unfair, predatory, or anticompetitive way that disadvantages U.S. carriers.
Requires the Secretary to prescribe regulations governing submission of price and other information to enable the Secretary to determine whether prices charged by controlled and non-controlled carriers are unfair, predatory, or anticompetitive.
Prohibits disclosure or publication of such information (except for administrative, judicial, or congressional purposes) if the information does not result in a finding of violation or in an enforcement action.
(Sec. 202) Directs the Secretary to develop, and submit to the Congress, a negotiation strategy to persuade foreign governments to divest themselves of ownership and control of ocean common carriers.
(Sec. 203) Directs the Secretary to report annually to the Congress on: (1) certain actions of the Secretary under the Foreign Shipping Practices Act of 1988 and the Shipping Act of 1984; and (2) the effect on U.S. maritime employment of the laws and practices of foreign governments and foreign carriers, or other persons providing maritime services in a foreign country, that adversely affect the operations of U.S. carriers in U.S. oceanborne trade.
Title III: Elimination of the Federal Maritime Commission - Terminates, and transfers to the Secretary, all functions of the FMC on September 30, 1997.
Authorizes appropriations to the FMC for FY 1997.
Title IV: Miscellaneous Provisions - Directs the Secretary of the Navy to transfer six specified obsolete Navy tugboats to the Northeast Wisconsin Railroad Transportation Commission.