Actually, the request made by the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) to the top twenty shipping companies containerized operating to and from the United States seems somewhat bizarre, given that to ascertain any irregularities It would be more productive to analyse, as is the case. In fact, the complaints submitted in recent months by customers of the Maritime carriers. Certainly the wording of the article of the law in question does not help.

The law is the "Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022" (OSRA), signed on June 16 by President Joe Biden ( of 14 June 2022), and the article in question is section 5 on the prohibition of retaliation, which prohibits maritime carriers, but also port terminal operators and transport intermediaries maritime, to adopt retaliatory practices and other actions discriminatory against a shipper or a shipper representative of a shipper or an intermediary of the shipper carriage by sea or a haulier, refusing or threatening to refuse a load in return for availability cargo spaces, as well as any other unfair or unjustified action of discrimination where the shipper has chosen another carrier or has filed a complaint against the sea carrier, port terminalista or the transport intermediary.

The FMC federal agency, which is in charge of the regulation of international maritime transport to and from the USA, asked the twenty sea carriers to provide information on how they are complying with the new bans on retaliation introduced by OSRA. The Commission recalled that a Its own working group is examining how carriers seafarers are complying with further prohibitions of Retaliatory and discriminatory behaviour introduced by the new Law and the working group will focus in particular on How shipping companies and other operators are training their staff to act in accordance with the law and so that it is made aware of the consequences of the violation of the law.

"The Ocean Shipping Reform Act - explained the president of FMC, Daniel Maffei - clarified that it is absolutely illegal for sea carriers to discriminate or carry out Retaliation against a freight forwarder presenting a Claim or contest an accusation. The FMC will investigate thoroughly on any allegations of illegal behaviour and, where appropriate, will pursue decisively. This is something that everyone in a company, from the new sales representative to the administrator delegate, they have to understand and that's why the VOCC Audit Team is addressing this message to sea carriers who serve the United States. Even a simple verbal threat to one Freight forwarder by an employee of a navigation may result in the violation of a law of United States and this will not be tolerated."

Maffei's statements seem to support the hypothesis that the request to maritime carriers is indeed curious, but it is Rather, it should be interpreted as a decisive "message to carriers" seafarers' - as specified by Maffei - not to implement discriminatory practices that - and this is what it seems to reading between the unsaid - evidently it is very difficult identify and, if necessary, punish.