§ 402.3 Interpretation.

In this tariff,

Bulk cargo means cargo consisting of goods, loose or in mass, that generally must be shoveled, pumped, blown, scooped or forked in the handling and includes:

(1) Cement, loose or in sacks;

(2) Coke and petroleum coke, loose or in sacks;

(3) Domestic cargo;

(4) Liquids carried in vessels' tanks;

(5) Ores and minerals (crude, screened, sized or concentrated, but not otherwise processed) loose or in sacks, including alumina, bauxite, gravel, phosphate rock, sand, stone and sulphur;

(6) Pig iron and scrap metals;

(7) Lumber, pulpwood, poles and logs, loose or bundled;

(8) Raw sugar, flour, loose or in sacks;

(9) Wood pulp, loose or in bales; and

(10) Material for recycling, scrap material, refuse and waste.

Cargo means all goods aboard a vessel whether carried as revenue or non-revenue freight or carried for the vessel owner, but does not include:

(1) Empty containers or the tare weight of loaded containers;

(2) Vessels' fuel, ballast or stores;

(3) The personal effects of crew or passengers; or

(4) In transit cargo that is carried both upbound and downbound in the course of the same voyage.

Carrier means any company, or its representative, engaged in physically moving a cargo between an origin and a destination.

Closing date means in respect of a year, the first date in such year after the opening date on which both the Montreal-Lake Ontario portion and the Welland Canal portion of the Seaway are closed for vessel traffic.

Commodity means cargo that has been defined as a commodity in the Manager's commodity codes.

Containerized cargo means cargo shipping in a container. Containers are used to transport freight in multiple modes: vessel, rail, and truck. There are many configurations: Dry, insulated or thermal, refrigerated or reefer, flat racks and platforms, open top and tank. Typical dimensions: 8 feet in width, 8 feet 6 inches or 9 feet 6 inches in height and 20 feet or 40 feet in length. Less common lengths include, for example, 24, 28, 44, 45, 46, 48, 53, and 56 feet.

Corporation means the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation.

Domestic cargo means cargo, the shipment of which originates at one Canadian point and terminates at another Canadian point, or originates at one United States point and terminates at another United States point or originates at one Canadian or United States point in the Great Lakes Saint Lawrence Seaway System and terminates at another Canadian or United States point in the Great Lakes Saint Lawrence Seaway System but does not include import or export cargo designated at the point of origin for transshipment by water at a point in Canada or in the United States.

Gateway incentive means a percentage reduction, as part of an incentive program, negotiated and offered on applicable cargo tolls for shipments of a specific commodity diverted to the Seaway from a competing gateway.

General cargo means goods other than bulk cargo, grain, government aid cargo, steel slabs and coal.

Government aid cargo means:

(1) Processed food products that are donated by, or the purchase of which has been financed on concessional terms by, the federal government of the United States or Canada for the purposes of nutrition, economic development, emergency, or disaster relief programs; and

(2) Food cargo that is:

(i) Owned or financed by a non-profit organization or cooperative;

(ii) Intended for use in humanitarian or development assistance overseas; and

(iii) Stamped or otherwise shown to have been declared as such to that is certified by the customs service of the United States or Canada.

Grain means barley, corn, oats, flaxseed, rapeseed, soybeans, field crop seeds, buckwheat, dried beans, dried peas, rye, wheat, grain screenings or meal from those grains.

Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway System means all ports in the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.

Incremental volume means the portion of tonnage shipped through the Seaway by a specific shipper/receiver in a given season, above the pre-approved maximum tonnage realized by that specific shipper/receiver over the previous five (5) navigation seasons.

Liner service means one or more vessels operated by a single operator on a fixed route between designated port, providing regularly scheduled service for consignments of multiple commodities.

Manager means the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation.

Maximum volume means the highest total annual tonnage of a specific commodity that a shipper/receiver has shipped through the Seaway over the previous 5 years.

Metric ton means 1,000 kilograms (2204.62 pounds).

Navigation season means the period commencing on an opening date and ending on the next closing date.

New business means:

(1) Containerized cargo moved by vessel in the Seaway at any time in a navigation season;

(2) A commodity/origin/destination combination in which the commodity moved by vessel in the Seaway at any time in a navigation season:

(i) Originating at a point inside Canada or the United States of America or at a country outside Canada or the United States of America, provided that such commodity has not originated from such point or country, as the case may be, at any time in any of the five consecutive navigation seasons immediately preceding the then current navigation season;

(ii) Destined to a point inside Canada or the United States of America or a country outside Canada or the United States of America, provided that such commodity has not been destined to such point or country, as the case may be, at any time in any of the five consecutive navigation seasons immediately preceding the then current navigation season;

(iii) Originating at a point inside Canada or the United States of America or a country outside Canada or the United States of America and destined to a point inside Canada or the United States of America or a country outside Canada or the United States of America, provided that such Commodity was previously moved by any mode of transportation other than by vessel at all times in the five consecutive navigation seasons immediately preceding the then current navigation season; or

(iv) That has not moved through either section of the Seaway in any of the five consecutive navigation seasons immediately preceding the then current navigation season, in a volume exceeding 10,000 metric tons.

Opening date means, in respect of any year, the earliest date in such year on which either the Montreal-Lake Ontario portion or the Welland Canal portion of the Seaway is opened for vessel traffic, provided however that if such date is prior to April 1 the opening date in such year shall be deemed to be the 1st day of April in such year.

Passenger means a person being transported through the Seaway who has paid a fare for passage.

Pleasure craft means a vessel, however propelled, that is used exclusively for pleasure and does not carry passengers.

Seaway includes all facilities and services authorized under Public Law 358, 83rd Congress, May 13, 1954, enacted by the Congress of the United States, as amended, (33 U.S.C. 981, et seq.) and the meaning ascribed to it under the Canada Marine Act.

Section of the Seaway means either the Montreal-Lake Ontario portion of the Seaway or the Welland Canal portion of the Seaway.

Semi-liner service means a reduced or limited liner service, offering fewer regularly scheduled voyages and/or fewer designated ports of calls.

Service incentive means a percentage reduction, as part of an incentive program offered on applicable cargo tolls in respect of New Business shipments made by way of any newly established regular service out of the Great Lakes.

Shipper/receiver means any company who owns or buys the cargo that is being shipped through the Seaway.

Toll reduction means the negotiated percentage of refund on applicable cargo tolls under the Gateway Incentive program.

Vessel (“ship” in Canada) means every type of craft used as a means of transportation on water, except a vessel owned or employed by the Manager or the Corporation.

Volume commitment means the negotiated annual cargo tonnage, with a minimum of 75,000 metric tons per year, a shipper/receiver must reach for the negotiated toll reduction under the Gateway Incentive to become applicable.

Volume rebate means a percentage reduction, as part of an initiative program, offered on applicable cargo tolls for shipments of a specific commodity above and beyond a pre-approved historical maximum volume.

[66 FR 15329, Mar. 16, 2001, as amended at 71 FR 14807, Mar. 24, 2006; 72 FR 4431, Jan. 31, 2007; 74 FR 10678, Mar. 12, 2009; 78 FR 19106, Mar. 29, 2013; 79 FR 13252, Mar. 10, 2014; 81 FR 14391, Mar. 17, 2016; 84 FR 8985, Mar. 13, 2019; 86 FR 15586, Mar. 24, 2021; 88 FR 15275, Mar. 13, 2023]