§ 535.401 General requirements.

• (a) All agreements (including oral agreements reduced to writing in accordance with the Act) subject to this part and filed with the Commission for review and disposition pursuant to section 6 of the Act (46 U.S.C. 40304, 40306, 41307(b)-(d)), must be submitted to the Commission either in paper during regular business hours to the Secretary, Federal Maritime Commission, Washington, DC 20573, or electronically using the automated agreement filing system.

- (1) Paper filings. Paper filings must include:

• (i) A true copy and seven additional copies of the executed agreement;

- (ii) Where required by this part, an original and five copies of the completed Information Form referenced at subpart E of this part; and

- (iii) A letter of transmittal as described in paragraph (b) of this section.

- (2) Electronic filings. (i) Electronic filings using the automated agreement filing system must be made in accordance with the instructions found on the Commission's home page, http://www.fmc.gov.

- (ii) Electronic filings must include searchable Portable Document Format (PDF) copies of the following:

• (A) A true copy of the executed agreement;
• (B) Where required by this part, a completed Information Form referenced at subpart E of this part; and
• (C) A letter of transmittal as described in paragraph (b) of this section.
• (b) The letter of transmittal shall:

- (1) Identify all of the documents being transmitted including, in the instance of a modification to an effective agreement, the full name of the effective agreement, the Commission-assigned agreement number of the effective agreement and the revision, page and/or appendix number of the modification being filed;

- (2) Provide a concise, succinct summary of the filed agreement or modification separate and apart from any narrative intended to provide support for the acceptability of the agreement or modification;

- (3) Clearly provide the typewritten or otherwise imprinted name, position, business address, and telephone number of the filing party; and

- (4) Be signed by the filing party or on the filing party's behalf by an authorized employee or agent of the filing party. A faxed, photocopied, or scanned signature will be accepted.

• (c) To facilitate the timely and accurate publication of the Federal Register Notice, the letter of transmittal shall also provide a current list of the agreement's participants where such information is not provided elsewhere in the transmitted documents.
• (d) Any agreement that does not meet the filing requirements of this section, including any applicable Information Form requirements, shall be rejected in accordance with § 535.601(b).
• (e) Assessment agreements shall be filed and shall be effective upon filing.
• (f) Parties to agreements with expiration dates shall file any modification seeking renewal for a specific term or elimination of a termination date in sufficient time to accommodate the 45-day waiting period required under the Act.
• (g) The filing fee is $3,980 for new agreements and $4,637 for any agreement modifications requiring Commission review and action; $1,174 for agreements processed under delegated authority (for types of agreements that can be processed under delegated authority, see § 501.27(e) of this chapter); $343 for carrier exempt agreements; and $96 for terminal exempt agreements.
• (h) The fee for a request for expedited review of an agreement pursuant to § 535.605 is $151. This fee must be paid in addition to the carrier agreement filing fee required by paragraph (g) of this section.

[69 FR 64414, Nov. 4, 2004, as amended at 70 FR 10330, Mar. 3, 2005; 74 FR 50728, Oct. 1, 2009; 75 FR 29455, May 26, 2010; 81 FR 24705, Apr. 27, 2016; 81 FR 59145, Aug. 29, 2016; 83 FR 50295, Oct. 5, 2018; 85 FR 72578, Nov. 13, 2020; 88 FR 16898, Mar. 21, 2023]