A cargo ship carries containers.
Congress is stepping in to help overhaul the shipping industry and the retail industry is welcoming the possibility. The National Retail Federation issued the following statement from Senior Vice President for Government Relations David French after the House gave final approval to the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022, a bill with bipartisan support that President Biden says he looks forward to signing into law.
“Retailers and thousands of other businesses depend on the global maritime transportation system to move goods through the supply chain every day and continue to face significant challenges, including unfair business practices by ocean carriers. Making OSRA federal law helps address longstanding systemic supply chain and port disruption issues that existed well before the pandemic by providing the Federal Maritime Commission the additional authority it needs. Additionally, it provides critical updates to the international maritime transportation system, which has been severely impacted by COVID-19.
“We commend Congressmen John Garamendi and Dusty Johnson and Senators Amy Klobuchar and John Thune for their bipartisan leadership on this important legislation.
“These improvements come at a time when inflation has reached a 40-year high. NRF has championed the effort to pass OSRA as one of the steps necessary to lower inflation now and ease pressure on American businesses, workers and consumers. It serves as the final piece of NRF’s Save Our Shipments grassroots campaign. The targeted advocacy effort focused on legislative solutions to address the retail industry’s supply chain challenges, including passing the bipartisan infrastructure bill and adding more truck drivers to the workforce.”
NRF this week sent a key vote letter to House leadership urging members to approve OSRA and finally deliver this critical legislation to President Biden’s desk. NRF also helped spearhead a letter to congressional leadership encouraging final passage of the bill that was signed by more than 90 trade associations.
The gift industry has been long been feeling the effects of rising shipping costs and a breakdown in the supply chain, and even now ocean container rates aren’t decreasing fast enough.
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Lenise Willis is the editor in chief of Gifts & Decorative Accessories, which has been covering the gift, stationery and home industry since 1917. For more than five years, she’s covered retail best practices alongside product trends and ecommerce tips. Through market events, live panels and articles, she leads conversations concerning consumer research, trending gifts in a wide variety of categories and changes in the gift industry at large.
