Maersk - Notification on Implementation of New Regulations from the Chinese Ministry of Transport (MoT)

                                             31 January 2014

Kindly see this notification below sent by Maersk (China) Shipping Co Ltd:

Notification on Implementation of New Regulations from the Chinese Ministry of Transport (MoT) 

Maersk Line would like to inform you that the Chinese Ministry of Transport (MoT) has issued a circular related to international maritime transportation of cargo. New regulations are applicable to export shipments from China across the globe.

In order to promote fair market practices for the regulated trade lanes, MoT has appointed Shanghai Shipping Exchange (SSE) to provide a freight and tariff filing system for all carriers. Effective 15 February 2014, the Chinese government will audit our contract filings for these regulated trade lanes in accordance with the below mentioned rules. 

Rules:

       ·        A carrier can only enter into contracts with actual cargo owners and MoT certified NVOCCs.

·        All service contracts and negotiated rates need to be filed with SSE prior to their use by carriers and their customers. 

·        If you are an NVOCC who accepts liability as a carrier, a business engagement with carriers is possible only when you are registered with MoT with your name listed in the MoT certified NVOCC list on the MoT official website.

·    A contract can only be used by the contractual customer and its associates "who are a part of the contract".

·        Only the contractual customer name or that of its associated entities for a service contract can appear on the Bill of Lading (B/L).

·    An e-mail confirmation from the customer will be needed to accept an engagement as a contractual engagement in case of absence of a formal document.

·         Contract price will only be valid 24 hours after filing with the Chinese regulatory. 

Consequence of Non-compliance:

       ·     Income earned out of non-compliance to the regulations by a non-registered NVOCC will be considered       illegal income. This will be confiscated by the Chinese government. 

·    A fine equivalent to 5 times the illegal income earned is payable in case of non-compliance to these regulations.

·       Any deviation from these regulations if discovered by MoT will be considered an abuse of contract and shall be considered a violation to international maritime rules.

·   Penalties for a Carrier can include cancellation of business license to operate in China or compulsory reduction of port calls.

Requested Actions:

We thank you for the support that you have given Maersk Line and request you to kindly take the following actions:

If you are an NVOCC or freight forwarder customer that is already registered with the Chinese Ministry of Transport, please check to ensure your registration is filed on the MoT website. You will need to quote your MoT registration number when asking for quotations or making bookings with Maersk Line in future. To verify whether your company is listed on the MoT website, please click here: http://www.mot.gov.cn/zizhan/siju/shuiyunsi/tongzhigonggao/ (the website is in Chinese only).

If you are an NVOCC or freight forwarding customer that is not yet registered or your registration has expired, please initiate your registration with the Chinese Ministry of Transport. To check the steps of registration, please click here: http://www.mot.gov.cn/zizhan/siju/shuiyunsi/  (the website is in Chinese only).

For reference to the MoT guidelines, please click here: http://en.sse.net.cn/filingen/aboutfiling.jsp