When used in this part:

(a) Act means the Shipping Act of 1984 as amended by the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 1998.

(b) Agreement means an understanding, arrangement, or association (written or oral) and any modification or cancellation thereof which has been filed and effective under part 535 of this chapter with the Commission. The term does not include a maritime labor agreement.

(c) Authorized person means a carrier or a duly appointed agent who is authorized to file service contracts on behalf of the carrier party to a service contract and to publish the corresponding statement of essential terms and is registered by the Commission to file under §530.5(d) and appendix A to this part.

(d) BTA means the Commission's Bureau of Trade Analysis or its successor bureau.

(e) Commission means the Federal Maritime Commission.

(f) Common carrier means a person holding itself out to the general public to provide transportation by water of passengers or cargo between the United States and a foreign country for compensation that:

(1) Assumes responsibility for the transportation from the port or point of receipt to the port or point of destination; and

(2) Utilizes, for all or part of that transportation, a vessel operating on the high seas or the Great Lakes between a port in the United States and a port in a foreign country, except that the term does not include a common carrier engaged in ocean transportation by ferry boat, ocean tramp, or chemical parcel tanker, or by a vessel when primarily engaged in the carriage of perishable agricultural commodities:

(i) If the common carrier and the owner of those commodities are wholly owned, directly or indirectly, by a person primarily engaged in the marketing and distribution of those commodities and

(ii) Only with respect to those commodities.

(g) Conference means an agreement between or among two or more ocean common carriers which provides for the fixing of and adherence to uniform rates, charges, practices and conditions of service relating to the receipt, carriage, handling and/or delivery of passengers or cargo for all members. The term does not include joint service, pooling, sailing, space charter, or transshipment agreements.

(h) Controlled carrier means an ocean common carrier that is, or whose operating assets are, directly or indirectly owned or controlled by a government. Ownership or control by a government shall be deemed to exist with respect to any ocean common carrier if:

(1) A majority portion of the interest in the carrier is owned or controlled in any manner by that government, by any agency thereof, or by any public or private person controlled by that government; or

(2) That government has the right to appoint or disapprove the appointment of a majority of the directors, the chief operating officer or the chief executive officer of the carrier.

(i) Effective date means the date upon which a service contract or amendment is scheduled to go into effect by the parties to the contract. For an original service contract, the effective date cannot be prior to the filing date with the Commission. For a service contract amendment, the effective date can be no more than thirty (30) calendar days prior to the filing date with the Commission. A service contract or amendment thereto becomes effective at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on the beginning of the effective date.

(j) Expiration date means the last day after which the entire service contract is no longer in effect.

(k) File or filing (of service contracts or amendments thereto) means the use of the Commission's electronic filing system for receipt of a service contract or an amendment thereto by the Commission, consistent with the method set forth in appendix A of this part, and the recording of its receipt by the Commission.

(l) Labor agreement means a collective-bargaining agreement between an employer subject to the Act, or group of such employers, and a labor organization or an agreement preparatory to such a collective-bargaining agreement among members of a multi-employer bargaining group, or an agreement specifically implementing provisions of such a collective-bargaining agreement or providing for the formation, financing, or administration of a multi-employer bargaining group, but the term does not include an assessment agreement.

(m) Motor vehicle means a wheeled vehicle whose primary purpose is ordinarily the non-commercial transportation of passengers, including an automobile, pickup truck, minivan or sport utility vehicle.

(n) Ocean common carrier means a common carrier that operates, for all or part of its common carrier service, a vessel on the high seas or the Great Lakes between a port in the United States and a port in a foreign country, except that the term does not include a common carrier engaged in ocean transportation by ferry boat, ocean tramp, or chemical parcel-tanker.

(o) OIT means the Commission's Office of Information Technology.

(p) Non-vessel-operating common carrier (“NVOCC”) means an ocean transportation intermediary as defined by section 3(17)(B) of the Act (46 U.S.C. 40102(16)).

(q) Service contract means a written contract, other than a bill of lading or receipt, between one or more shippers and an individual ocean common carrier or an agreement between or among ocean common carriers in which the shipper makes a commitment to provide a certain minimum quantity or portion of its cargo or freight revenue over a fixed time period, and the individual ocean common carrier or the agreement commits to a certain rate or rate schedule and a defined service level, such as, assured space, transit time, port rotation, or similar service features. The contract may also specify provisions in the event of nonperformance on the part of any party.

(r) Shipper means a cargo owner; the person for whose account the ocean transportation is provided; the person to whom delivery is to be made; a shippers' association; or an NVOCC that accepts responsibility for payment of all applicable charges under the service contract.

[64 FR 11206, Mar. 8, 1999, as amended at 64 FR 23792, May 4, 1999; 64 FR 41042, July 29, 1999; 65 FR 26513, May 8, 2000; 74 FR 50723, Oct. 1, 2009; 82 FR 16296, Apr. 4, 2017; 85 FR 38089, June 25, 2020]