---
kind: "section"
citation: "46 U.S.C. § 40901"
title: "46"
title_heading: "Shipping"
number: "40901"
heading: "License requirement"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/46/40901"
units:
  - "Subtitle IV — Regulation of Ocean Shipping"
  - "Part A — Ocean Shipping"
  - "Chapter 409 — Ocean Transportation Intermediaries"
---

# §40901. License requirement

- (a) **In General.—** A person in the United States may not advertise, hold oneself out, or act as an [ocean transportation intermediary](/usc/46/40102.md?p=20) unless the person holds an [ocean transportation intermediary](/usc/46/40102.md?p=20)’s license issued by the Federal Maritime [Commission](/usc/46/42501.md?p=1). The [Commission](/usc/46/42501.md?p=1) shall issue a license to a person that the [Commission](/usc/46/42501.md?p=1) determines to be qualified by experience and character to act as an [ocean transportation intermediary](/usc/46/40102.md?p=20).
- (b) **Exception.—** A person whose primary business is the sale of merchandise may forward [shipments](/usc/46/40102.md?p=22) of the merchandise for its own account without an [ocean transportation intermediary](/usc/46/40102.md?p=20)’s license.
- (c) **Applicability.—** [Subsection (a)](#a) and [section 40902](/usc/46/40902.md) do not apply to a person that performs [ocean transportation intermediary](/usc/46/40102.md?p=20) services on behalf of an [ocean transportation intermediary](/usc/46/40102.md?p=20) for which it is a disclosed agent.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 109–304, § 7, Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1538; Pub. L. 115–282, title VII, § 707(a), (b), Dec. 4, 2018, 132 Stat. 4295.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Revised<br>Section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| 40901(a) | 46 App.:1718(a). | Pub. L. 98–237, § 19(a), (d), Mar. 20, 1984, 98 Stat. 87, 88; Pub. L. 105–258, title I, § 116, Oct. 14, 1998, 112 Stat. 1912. |
| 40901(b) | 46 App.:1718(d). |  |

### Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2018—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 115–282, § 707(a), inserted “advertise, hold oneself out, or” after “may not”.

Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 115–282, § 707(b), added subsec. (c).