Must service contracts for inland movements in Europe be filed with the Commission?
Unlike U.S. federal law, the European Union views inland movements as separate and distinct from the ocean movement and does not allow common pricing by carriers offering such through movements. U.S. law, on the other hand, views the entire movement as ocean shipping. As such, contracts for through movements are service contracts and should be filed in their entirety. Accordingly, if an ocean common carrier provides continuous transportation involving more than one mode of service (e.g., ship, rail, motor, air) for pickup or delivery at a point beyond the port at which the vessel calls, the service contracts covering the entire intermodal movement must be filed. If the rate for an intermodal movement between the United States and Europe is computed by adding an ocean contract rate and an inland contract rate, both contracts must be filed with the Commission.
