---
kind: "section"
citation: "46 U.S.C. § 40504"
title: "46"
title_heading: "Shipping"
number: "40504"
heading: "Shipping exchange registry"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/46/40504"
units:
  - "Subtitle IV — Regulation of Ocean Shipping"
  - "Part A — Ocean Shipping"
  - "Chapter 405 — Tariffs, Service Contracts, Refunds, and Waivers"
---

# §40504. Shipping exchange registry

- (a) **In General.—** No person may operate a shipping exchange involving ocean transportation in the foreign commerce of the United States unless the shipping exchange is registered as a national shipping exchange under the terms and conditions provided in this section and the regulations issued pursuant to this section.
- (b) **Registration.—** A person shall register a shipping exchange by filing with the Federal Maritime [Commission](/usc/46/42501.md?p=1) an application for registration in such form as the [Commission](/usc/46/42501.md?p=1), by rule, may prescribe, containing the rules of the exchange and such other information and documents as the [Commission](/usc/46/42501.md?p=1), by rule, may prescribe as necessary or appropriate to complete a shipping exchange’s registration.
- (c) **Exemption.—** The [Commission](/usc/46/42501.md?p=1) may exempt, conditionally or unconditionally, a shipping exchange from registration under this section if the [Commission](/usc/46/42501.md?p=1) finds that the shipping exchange is subject to comparable, comprehensive supervision and regulation by the appropriate governmental authorities in a foreign country where the shipping exchange is headquartered.
- (d) **Regulations.—** Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022, the [Commission](/usc/46/42501.md?p=1) shall issue regulations pursuant to [subsection (a)](#a), which shall set standards necessary to carry out subtitle IV of this title for registered national shipping exchanges. For [consideration](/usc/46/2101.md?p=5) of a [service contract](/usc/46/40102.md?p=21) entered into by a shipping exchange, the [Commission](/usc/46/42501.md?p=1) shall be limited to the minimum essential terms for [service contracts](/usc/46/40102.md?p=21) established under [section 40502 of this title](/usc/46/40502.md).
- (e) **Definition of Shipping Exchange.—** In this section, the term “shipping exchange” means a platform (digital, over-the-counter, or otherwise) that connects [shippers](/usc/46/40102.md?p=24) with [common carriers](/usc/46/40102.md?p=7) for the purpose of entering into underlying [agreements](/usc/46/40102.md?p=1) or contracts for the transport of cargo, by vessel or other modes of transportation.

## Source credit

(Added Pub. L. 117–146, § 4(a), June 16, 2022, 136 Stat. 1272.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### References in Text

The date of enactment of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022, referred to in subsec. (d), is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 117–146, which was approved June 16, 2022.

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Applicability of Registration Requirement

Pub. L. 117–146, § 4(b), June 16, 2022, 136 Stat. 1273, provided that: “The registration requirement under section 40504 of title 46, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)), shall take effect on the date on which the Federal Maritime Commission states the rule is effective in the regulations issued under such section.”