MCTF Endorses the CBP Customs Border and Protection effort to Strengthen Enforcement of Jones Act

On August 17th, - The Maritime Cabotage Task Force (MCTF) issues a press release about the CBP closing several loop holes in the Jones Act that allowed certain foreign vessels to operate in US waters/waterways. The MCTF is dedicated to educating America on the economic, national security, environmental and safety benefits of the Jones Act and other U.S. cabotage laws so that domestic waterborne commerce remains a pillar of our national existence.

The press release indicated the following details:

MCTF Endorses Customs and Border ProtectionEffort to Strengthen Enforcement of Jones ActWashington, D.C –Non-Jones Act qualified vessels will no longer be able to engagein activities properly reserved for U.S.-flag vessels once Customs and Border Protection(“CBP”) implements its proposal to correct or eliminate several rulings that failed to take dueaccount of all the factors set forth in a key 1976 decision.“MCTF strongly supports CBP’s proposal, which will help ensure that our coastwiselaws are properly applied with respect to the transportation of certain merchandise betweenU.S. points,” the coalition stated in comments submitted on August 14. The proposalfocuses largely on correcting the incremental misapplication of a 1976 decision in whichCBP evaluated a range of activities undertaken by a pipeline repair vessel on the outercontinental shelf. Over the years, factors underlying the decision have been cited out ofcontext, eroding the fundamental analysis, with the result that non-coastwise qualifiedvessels engaged in activities properly reserved for Jones Act-qualified vessels.The Jones Act requires that merchandise moving between points in the United States by water be carried in a vessel that is built in the U.S., owned by U.S. citizens, documented under U.S. registry, and crewed by U.S. seafarers. The Jones Act wasenacted in 1920, but the United States has reserved the domestic trades to U.S. vesselssince 1817 and had other laws to promote a U.S.-flag fleet since 1789.“A close reading of the 1976 decision makes clear that CBP never intended thedefinition of vessel equipment to depend solely on the mission of the vessel or to change dramatically from one vessel to the next,” stated the MCTF. “Permitting non-coastwise qualified vessels to carry equipment, supplies, or other articles that are not needed to navigate, operate, or maintain the vessel undermines the coastwise laws because it permitstransportation that should be reserved for U.S. coastwise qualified vessels.”Maritime Cabotage Task Force was founded in 1995 to promote the U.S.-flag fleetengaged in domestic waterborne commerce. With more than 400 members, MCTF is thelargest coalition ever assembled to represent the domestic segment of the U.S. MerchantMarine. Nationwide, there are more than 39,000 vessels engaged in Jones Act commerceand they annually move more than 1 billion tons of cargo and 100 million passengers. TheAct has been broadly supported by every Congress and Administration since its passage in1920 and is considered a key element in the nation’s national defense capabilities.

For more information on the MCFT you can visit their website at http://www.mctf.com

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