The Federal Maritime Commission’s proposal to create a container rate index for agricultural exports would violate the Ocean Shipping Reform Act’s confidentiality provisions and should be abandoned, the World Shipping Council said.

The council’s statement came in a strongly worded response to the commission’s request for comments on the index proposal.

FMC Chairman Richard Lidinsky Jr. floated the idea of a container rate index for agricultural exports based on a sampling of service contracts filed with the FMC.

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