What is the importance of a Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) License?
To obtain a FMC license to handle ocean cargo a Freight Forwarder must satisfy very strict conditions imposed by FMC and must also post a bond in order to guarantee payment of ocean freight amounts collected from Shippers. This bond must be renewed each year in order to maintain the license current and it offers added security to the Shippers. Many Shippers don’t realize that they responsible to the Carriers for payment of ocean freight and find out too late about the perils of dealing with unlicensed Freight Forwarders.
