"Broadening the ability of parties to enter into service contracts is clearly the correct response to the changing needs of a globally competitive transportation environment," said Peter J. Gatti, executive vice president of NITL in supporting NVOCCs' right to negotiate confidential contracts with shippers. Under U.S. shipping law, only entities which own and/or operate vessels in the U.S. trades are permitted to enter into confidential contracts. The League supports contracting between NVOCCs and their customers on a broad basis and urged the FMC to institute a rulemaking to help determine the circumstances an individual NVOCC would have meet to enter into a service contract with a shipper.
A copy of the League's complete filing is available at www.nitl.org/fmc1010.pdf.