46 U.S.C. § 40303 — Content requirements

(a) Ocean Common Carrier^* Agreements.
(1) Restrictions. An agreement^* between ocean carriers cannot (A) stop a member from negotiating a service contract^* with a shipper^*; (B) require a member to reveal a service-contract negotiation, or its terms, beyond what must be published under section 40502(d); or (C) create mandatory rules limiting a member's right to negotiate and sign service contracts.
(2) Voluntary guidelines. The agreement can offer voluntary guidelines about service-contract terms and procedures, as long as it clearly says members don't have to follow them. Any such guidelines must be sent to the Federal Maritime Commission confidentially.

(b) Conference^* Agreements. Each agreement among a group of carriers (a "conference") must (1) state^* its purpose; (2) offer fair, equal terms for any willing ocean carrier to join or rejoin; (3) let any member leave with reasonable notice and no penalty; (4) let any member request an independent, neutral body to fully police the conference's and members' obligations; (5) ban the conference from certain prohibited conduct under section 41105(1) or (3); (6) set up a process to encourage resolving disputes commercially and cooperating with shippers to prevent bad practices; (7) create ways to promptly and fairly handle shipper requests and complaints; and (8) let (A) any member set its own rate or service term with just 5 days' notice to the conference, and (B) except for a specific exempt commodity, require the conference to add that new rate or term to its published tariff within 5 days, for that member and any other member that later opts in.

(c) Interconference Agreements. Any agreement between carriers that don't belong to the same conference must let each carrier act independently on rates. Any agreement between conferences must let each conference act independently too.

(d) Vessel^* Sharing Agreements.
(1) An ocean carrier that owns, operates, or charters a U.S.-documented liner ship can agree with a carrier described in paragraph (2), to whom it charters space, that the other carrier cannot use that space to carry cargo legally reserved for U.S. ships.
(2) That other carrier is one that has not, for at least a year, owned, operated, or bareboat-chartered U.S. liner ships eligible for the Maritime Security Fleet Program and enrolled in an Emergency Preparedness Program.