FMC PUBLISHES FINAL RULE ON D&D BILLING PRACTICES
The US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) issued last week its Final Rule on Detention & Demurrage (D&D) billing practices. Stemming from the implementation of the OSRA of 2022, the text sets out new requirements for how maritime carriers and terminal operator must bill for D&D charges.
A key provision of this rule determines that D&D invoices can only be issued to either: (1) the person for whose account the billing party provide ocean transportation or storage of cargo and who contracted with the billing party for the ocean transportation or storage of cargo; or (2) the “consignee,” defined as “the ultimate recipient of the cargo; the person to whom final delivery of the cargo is to be made”. As a result, D&D bills cannot be issued to multiple parties simultaneously.
With regards to the timeframe to issue D&D invoices and dispute charges, carriers and terminal operators would be required to issue invoices within 30 days after the charges stop accruing and provide 30 days to dispute the charges with clear information about how charges should be disputed.
The Final Rule will enter into force on 28 May 2024. CLECAT welcomes FMC’s efforts to provide clarity on D&D billing practices which will be seen as a great relief for shippers and freight forwarders. We now hope that other regions will follow suit and adopt similar guidelines.
Source: FMC