According to the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), the Supply Chain Innovation Teams being led by FMC Commissioner Rebecca Dye will begin work pursuant to the Fact Finding No. 29 Order this week. As we noted in our recent update, the Fact Finding No. 29 Order called for the creation of Supply Chain Innovation Teams to identify operational solutions that can provide immediate relief to the most pressing challenges facing the U.S. freight delivery system from COVID-19-related disruptions.
Each Supply Chain Innovation Team (Team) will have five members. The FMC, in announcing the commencement of the Teams' work, stated that Commissioner Dye will pose the following three questions to each Team member:
- What can the FMC do to provide relief or assistance to mitigate negative impacts on the supply chain related to COVID-19?
- What can companies involved in ocean cargo delivery do to respond to existing supply chain challenges and bottlenecks?
- What can supply chain actors do to strengthen the overall performance of the U.S. freight delivery system?
The responses to these questions will determine the scope and priorities of the Supply Chain Innovation Teams' work.
Commissioner Dye noted that "[w]hile we are not able to accommodate every request to serve on a Team, we know there is a deep pool of knowledge and experience that exists among others who work in the freight delivery industry. We encourage these experts to also contribute by submitting comments and proposals." The FMC is encouraging members of the public who wish to provide advice to submit comments to FF29@FMC.gov.
If you have questions about how this may impact your company or if you would like to engage with the FMC in this process, please contact Venable's International Trade and Logistics Group.