DEFINITIONS.

SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS. Section 3 of the Shipping Act of 1984 (46 U.S.C. App. 1702) is amended by— (1) striking “the government under whose registry the vessels of the carrier operate;” in paragraph (8) and inserting “a government;” (2) striking paragraph (9) and inserting the following: “(9) ’deferred rebate’ means a return by a common carrier of any portion of freight money to a shipper as a consideration for that shipper giving all, or any portion, of its shipments to that or any other common carrier over a fixed period of time, the payment of which is deferred beyond the completion of service for which it is paid, and is made only if the snipper has agreed to make a further shipment or shipments with that or any other common carrier.”;112 STAT. 1903 (3) striking paragraph (10) and redesignating paragraphs (11) through (27) as paragraphs (10) through (26); (4) striking “in an unfinished or semifinished state that require special handling moving in lot sizes too large for a container,” in paragraph (10), as redesignated; (5) striking “paper board in rolls, and paper in rolls.” in paragraph (10) as redesignated and inserting “paper and paper board in rolls or in pallet or skid–sized sheets.” (6) striking “conference, other than a service contract or contract based upon time–volume rates,” in paragraph (13) as redesignated and inserting “agreement” (7) striking “conference.” in paragraph (13) as redesignated and inserting “agreement and the contract provides for a deferred rebate arrangement.” (8) striking “carrier.” in paragraph (14) as redesignated and inserting “carrier, or in connection with a common carrier and a water carrier subject to subchapter II of chapter 135 of title 49, United States Code.” (9) striking paragraph (16) as redesignated and redesignating paragraphs (17) through (26) as redesignated as paragraphs (16) through (25), respectively; (10) striking paragraph (17), as redesignated, and inserting the following: “(17) ‘ocean transportation intermediary’ means an ocean freight forwarder or a non–vessel–operating common carrier. For purposes of this paragraph, the term— “(A) ‘ocean freight forwarder’ means a person that— “(i) in the United States, dispatches shipments from the United States via a common carrier and books or otherwise arranges space for those shipments on behalf of shippers; and “(ii) processes the documentation or performs related activities incident to those shipments; and “(B) ‘non–vessel–operating common carrier’ means a common carrier that does not operate the vessels by which the ocean transportation is provided, and is a shipper in its relationship with an ocean common carrier.” (11) striking paragraph (19), as redesignated and inserting the following: “(19) ‘service contract’ means a written contract, other than a bill of lading or a 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 or shippers makes a commitment to provide a certain volume or portion of cargo over a fixed time period, and the 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.”; and (12) striking paragraph (21), as redesignated, and inserting the following: “(21) ‘shipper’ means— “(A) a cargo owner; “(B) the person for whose account the ocean transportation is provided; “(C) the person to whom delivery is to be made;112 STAT. 1904 “(D) a shippers’ association; or “(E) an ocean transportation intermediary, as defined in paragraph (17)(B) of this section, that accepts responsibility for payment of all charges applicable under the tariff or service contract.”.