(a) Filing. (1) Authorized persons shall file with BTA, in the manner set forth in appendix A of this part, a true and complete copy of every service contract and every amendment to a service contract no later than thirty (30) days after the effective date.

(2) Failure to file a service contract or amendment in accordance with paragraph (a)(1) of this section does not affect the applicability of the service contract or amendment to cargo received on or after the effective date by the ocean common carrier or its agent.

(b) Required terms. Every service contract filed with the Commission shall include the complete terms of the service contract including, but not limited to, the following:

(1) The origin port ranges in the case of port-to-port movements and geographic areas in the case of through intermodal movements;

(2) The destination port ranges in the case of port-to-port movements and geographic areas in the case of through intermodal movements;

(3) The commodity or commodities involved;

(4) The minimum volume or portion;

(5) The service commitments;

(6) The line-haul rate;

(7) Liquidated damages for non-performance (if any);

(8) Duration, including the

(i) Effective date; and

(ii) Expiration date;

(9) The legal names and business addresses of the contract parties; the legal names of affiliates entitled to access the contract; the names, titles and addresses of the representatives signing the contract for the parties; and the date upon which the service contract was signed, except that in the case of a contract entered under the authority of an agreement or by a shippers' association, individual members need not be named unless the contract includes or excludes specific members. Subsequent references in the contract to the contract parties shall be consistent with the first reference (e.g., (exact name), “carrier,” “shipper,” or “association,” etc.). Carrier parties which enter into contracts that include affiliates must either:

(i) List the affiliates' business addresses; or

(ii) Certify that this information will be provided to the Commission upon request within ten (10) business days of such request. However, the requirements of this section do not apply to amendments to contracts that have been filed in accordance with the requirements of this section unless the amendment adds new parties or affiliates;

(10) A certification of shipper status;

(11) A description of the shipment records which will be maintained to support the service contract and the address, telephone number, and title of the person who will respond to a request by making shipment records available to the Commission for inspection under § 530.15 of this part; and

(12) All other provisions of the contract.

(c) Certainty of terms. The terms described in paragraph (b) of this section may not:

(1) Be uncertain, vague or ambiguous; or

(2) Make reference to terms not explicitly contained in the service contract itself unless those terms are readily available to the parties and the Commission.

(3) Pursuant to § 530.15(c), the carrier party to the service contract must, upon written request by the Commission, provide the Commission with the associated records of the referenced terms. For the purpose of paragraph (c)(2) of this section, the referenced terms will be deemed readily available to the Commission if the carrier party to the service contract provides the Commission with the associated records of the terms within thirty (30) days of the Commission's written request.

(d) Other requirements. Every service contract filed with BTA shall include, as set forth in appendix A to this part:

(1) A unique service contract number of more than one (1) but less than ten (10) alphanumeric characters in length (“SC Number”); and

(2) A consecutively numbered amendment number no more than three digits in length, with initial service contracts using “0”(“Amendment number”);

(3) The filed FMC Agreement Number(s) assigned by the Commission under 46 CFR part 535 (if applicable); and

(e) Exception in case of malfunction of Commission filing system. In the event that the Commission's filing systems are not functioning and cannot receive service contract filings for twenty-four (24) continuous hours or more, an original service contract or amendment that must be filed during that period in accordance with paragraph (a)(1) of this section will be considered timely filed so long as the service contract or amendment is filed no later than twenty-four (24) hours after the Commission's filing systems return to service.

Within thirty (30) days of the occurrence of any event listed below, there shall be filed with the Commission, pursuant to the same procedures as those followed for the filing of an amendment pursuant to § 530.10 and appendix A to this part, a detailed notice of:

(a) Correction (clerical or administrative errors);

(b) Cancellation (as defined in § 530.10(a)(3));

(c) Adjustment of accounts, by re-rating, liquidated damages, or otherwise;

(d) Final settlement of any account adjusted as described in paragraph (c) of this section; and

(e) Any change to:

(1) The name of a basic contract party; or

(2) The list of affiliates under § 530.8(b)(9), including changes to legal names and business addresses, of any contract party entitled to receive or authorized to offer services under the contract.

(a) Terms. When used in this section, the following terms will have these meanings:

(1) Amendment means any change to a service contract which has prospective effect and which is mutually agreed upon by the service contract parties.

(2) Correction means any change to a service contract which has retroactive effect.

(3) Cancellation means an event which is unanticipated by the service contract, in liquidated damages or otherwise, and is due to the failure of the shipper party to tender minimum cargo as set forth in the contract, unless such tender was made impossible by an action of the carrier party.

(b) Amendment. Service contracts may be amended by mutual agreement of the parties to the contract. Amendments shall be filed electronically with the Commission in the manner set forth in § 530.8 and appendix A to this part.

(1) Where feasible, service contracts should be amended by amending only the affected specific term(s) or subterms.

(2) Each time any part of a service contract is amended, the filer shall assign a consecutive amendment number (up to three digits), beginning with the number “1.”

(3) Each time any part of the service contract is amended, the “Filing Date” will be the date of filing of the amendment.

(c) Corrections. Requests shall be filed, in duplicate, with the Commission's Office of the Secretary within one-hundred eighty (180) days of the contract's filing with the Commission, accompanied by remittance of a $0 service fee, and must include:

(1) A letter of transmittal explaining the purpose of the submission, and providing specific information to identify the initial or amended service contract to be corrected;

(2) A paper copy of the proposed correct terms. Corrections shall be indicated as follows:

(i) Matter being deleted shall be struck through; and

(ii) Matter to be added shall immediately follow the language being deleted and be underscored;

(3) An affidavit from the filing party attesting with specificity to the factual circumstances surrounding the clerical or administrative error, with reference to any supporting documentation;

(4) Documents supporting the clerical or administrative error; and

(5) A brief statement from the other party to the contract concurring in the request for correction.

(6) If the request for correction is granted, the carrier, agreement or conference shall file the corrected contract provisions using a special case number as described in appendix A to this part.

(d) Electronic transmission errors. An authorized person who experiences a purely technical electronic transmission error or a data conversion error in transmitting a service contract filing or amendment thereto is permitted to file a Corrected Transmission (“CT”) of that filing within 30 days of the date and time of receipt recorded in SERVCON. This time-limited permission to correct an initial defective service contract filing is not to be used to make changes in the original service contract rates, terms or conditions that are otherwise provided for in paragraphs 530.10(b) and (c) of this section. The CT tab box in SERVCON must be checked at the time of resubmitting a previously filed service contract, and a description of the corrections made must be stated at the beginning of the corrected service contract in a comment box. Failure to check the CT box and enter a description of the correction will result in the rejection of a file with the same name, since documents with duplicate file names or service contract and amendment numbers are not accepted by SERVCON.

(e) Cancellation. (1) An account may be adjusted for events and damages covered by the service contract. This shall include adjustment necessitated by either liability for liquidated damages appearing in the service contract as filed with the Commission under § 530.8(b)(7), or the occurrence of an event described below in paragraph (d)(2) of this section.

(2) In the event of cancellation as defined in § 530.10(a)(3):

(i) Further or continued implementation of the service contract is prohibited; and

(ii) The cargo previously carried under the contract shall be re-rated according to the otherwise applicable tariff provisions.