What activities led to the creation of NSAs?
This FMC action was prompted by petitions that were filed between July 25, 2003 and March 12, 2004 by seven individual NVOCCs and by the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America, Inc. Although these petitions varied to some extent, they all sought to achieve the result made possible by the FMC’s exemption by rulemaking, namely that NVOCCs can contract with their shipper/customers on a confidential basis in much the same manner as can be done by vessel-operating common carriers through service contracts. In August, 2004, several of those petitioners, together with the Transportation Intermediaries Association and the National Industrial Transportation League, urged the FMC to act as quickly as possible to exempt filed NSAs from the tariff publication and adherence requirements of the Shipping Act. This proposal was supported by many individual NVOCCs and NVOCC organizations, as well as associations of vessel-operating common carriers. The FMC issued its Notice of P
