Ocean Shipping Reform Act Sails Through House
USA Rice
WASHINGTON, DC -- Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2021 (H.R. 4996, aka OSRA), the first major overhaul of maritime legislation in more than 30 years.
The overwhelmingly favorable vote of 364 to 60 shows the importance of this legislation to the agriculture industry and would prohibit shipping companies “from unreasonably declining export cargo bookings if the cargo can be loaded in a safe and timely manner.” The measure also reforms demurrage and detention rules.
As reported in the USA Rice Daily, Aug 13, 2021, USA Rice and more than 100 other agriculture organizations endorsed the bill.
“On behalf of USA Rice and the entire rice industry, I’m encouraged by the passage of the OSRA yesterday,” said Chris Crutchfield, a California miller and exporter who was recently appointed to a three-year term on the Federal Maritime Commission’s National Shipper Advisory Committee (NSAC) to represent the U.S. rice industry. “We appreciate the efforts of Congressmen Garamendi and Johnson, as well as the other co-sponsors and supporters of this important legislation.”
All eyes now turn to the Senate where a similar bill is expected to drop soon. Shipping challenges and this and other legislation was a topic of discussion at the recently concluded USA Rice Outlook Conference, and also the subject of the upcoming Episode 36 of The Rice Stuff podcast, going live on December 21.