---
kind: "section"
citation: "46 U.S.C. § 40305"
title: "46"
title_heading: "Shipping"
number: "40305"
heading: "Assessment agreements"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/46/40305"
units:
  - "Subtitle IV — Regulation of Ocean Shipping"
  - "Part A — Ocean Shipping"
  - "Chapter 403 — Agreements"
---

# §40305. Assessment agreements

- (a) **Filing Requirement.—** An [assessment agreement](/usc/46/40102.md?p=3) shall be filed with the Federal Maritime [Commission](/usc/46/42501.md?p=1) and is effective on filing.
- (b) **Complaints.—** If a complaint is filed with the [Commission](/usc/46/42501.md?p=1) within 2 years after the date of an [assessment agreement](/usc/46/40102.md?p=3), the [Commission](/usc/46/42501.md?p=1) shall disapprove, cancel, or modify the [agreement](/usc/46/40102.md?p=1), or an assessment or charge pursuant to the [agreement](/usc/46/40102.md?p=1), that the [Commission](/usc/46/42501.md?p=1) finds, after notice and opportunity for a hearing, to be unjustly discriminatory or unfair as between carriers, [shippers](/usc/46/40102.md?p=24), or ports. The [Commission](/usc/46/42501.md?p=1) shall issue its final decision in the proceeding within one year after the date the complaint is filed.
- (c) **Adjustments of Assessments and Charges.—** To the extent that the [Commission](/usc/46/42501.md?p=1) finds under [subsection (b)](#b) that an assessment or charge is unjustly discriminatory or unfair as between carriers, [shippers](/usc/46/40102.md?p=24), or ports, the [Commission](/usc/46/42501.md?p=1) shall adjust the assessment or charge for the period between the filing of the complaint and the final decision by awarding prospective credits or debits to future assessments and charges. However, if the complainant has ceased activities subject to the assessment or charge, the [Commission](/usc/46/42501.md?p=1) may award reparations.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 109–304, § 7, Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1531.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Revised<br>Section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| 40305 | 46 App.:1704(e) (less last sentence). | Pub. L. 98–237, § 5(e) (less last sentence), Mar. 20, 1984, 98 Stat. 70; Pub. L. 105–258, title I, § 104(a)(2), (b)(1), Oct. 14, 1998, 112 Stat. 1904, 1905. |