London—Three years after ocean shipping reform took effect, the law has generally met with U.S. shippers' approval. That was the conclusion of a recent member survey conducted by the National Industrial Transportation League (NITL), the nation's largest shippers group.

The survey results, which were released at the Fourth Annual Containerization International Conference in London in March, showed a consensus on the basic soundness of the 1998 Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA), which opened the doors for shippers to make their own deals with carriers. "Over 90 percent of shippers we asked said they now negotiated their freight contracts privately," NITL president Edward M. Emmett told attendees.

Emmett noted that although no immediate change in OSRA was needed, league members believe that the group should continue to keep a close watch on carriers' discussion agreements. "This will be an ongoing exercise," he said, "just to check on what kinds of surcharges and rate increases they might be considering."

Joining Emmett at the London meeting was Federal Maritime Commission Chairman Harold Creel, who concurred that U.S. shippers appear to be satisfied with the current level of deregulation. "Although OSRA does not end antitrust immunity for carriers, it does limit their collective pricing practices," he said. "It's a compromise that is attractive to both parties."

Creel went on to defend his commission's role in overseeing carrier conduct in a post-OSRA era. He said that in a "totally deregulated market, the only winners would be those foreign carriers subsidized by nation states."