FEDERAL MARITIME COMMISSION

FINAL ANNUAL PERFORMANCE PLAN

FOR FY 2001

May 2000

INTRODUCTION

This document comprises the Federal Maritime Commission's Annual Performance Plan for FY 2001. As set forth in the Government Performance and Results Act and general guidelines published by OMB, the Commission has prepared a single performance plan so as to present a comprehensive picture of performance across the agency. This plan is closely linked to the agency's strategic plan, although its content is more detailed and specific as opposed to the general and long-term focus of the strategic plan. We also have concentrated on developing objective performance goals and narrow, measurable performance indicators, so as to facilitate the plan's implementation and assessment of performance.

This Performance Plan differs from our FY 1999 and FY 2000 Plans in two respects. First, it more completely reflects the Commission's new statutory responsibilities and mandates under the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 1998 ("OSRA"). While our FY 2000 Plan reflects certain impacts of OSRA, we now are in a position in our FY 2001 Plan to base our performance goals and outcomes more fully on the altered oversight responsibilities we assumed pursuant to OSRA.

Second, our FY 2001 Plan is presented in accordance with the Budget Program Activities that resulted from the agency's reorganization of February 27, 2000. This reorganization was effectuated to enable the Commission to more effectively accomplish its new statutory mission under OSRA. Additionally, it sought to streamline agency operations where possible to enhance our oversight efforts, and reallocated agency resources to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our daily activities. As in our prior Plans, our intent is to achieve desired results via the approaches and processes best suited to our budgetary and resource situations. The FMC has streamlined its organizational structure so that we now have five Budget Program Activities as opposed to six (two prior Activities have been combined into one so as to remove unnecessary management layers). We also have reallocated responsibilities and resources, and established new functions in two of our Program Activities. The five Budget Program Activities under our reorganization are:  (1) Formal Proceedings, (2) Operational and Administrative, (3)  Trade Analysis, (4) Consumer Complaints and Licensing, and (5) Enforcement.

The Commission continues to tailor its annual performance plan to comport with the overall objectives of GPRA, while maintaining flexibility in its presentation and application. This modified approach has been authorized by OMB since the majority of Commission activities are statute-driven and our goals essentially are based upon legislative mandates which are clear and direct. Significant alteration of our existing programs is not possible, given that many measures and goals are required by statute. Additionally, the Commission has undergone an unusually exhaustive evaluative process with respect to its statutory goals and performance due to legislative proposals which culminated in our new statute, OSRA, that significantly changed a number of its major functions.

Accordingly, OMB agreed that the Commission should use an appropriately scaled mechanism for GPRA process and development with a framework which would be productive, yet less resource-intensive. Nonetheless, our plan presents relevant information clearly and concisely, and strives to be as detailed as necessary while avoiding minutiae.

Our plan sets forth the mission statement and general goals from our strategic plan, as a point of reference for the reader. In accordance with general OMB guidance, we have prepared performance goals for each of the program activities reflected in our budget submission. The strategic goals aligned with these performance goals are appropriately displayed. Each performance goal has been stated as a narrow, measurable objective. For each performance goal, we have identified the intended outcome, the processes and resources required to accomplish it, an appropriate performance indicator, and the means for measuring/evaluating performance. To ensure a clear understanding of the plan's contents, set forth below are definitions of basic terms used. We relied on OMB's published guidance for these definitions, and have included parenthetically our interpretation of their practical application.

Budget Program Activity - The FMC's program activities as listed in the program and financing schedules of the agency budget (the agency's major activities).

Performance Goal - A target level of performance; a measurable objective (a specific, proposed performance action).

Outcome - Intended result or consequence of the program activity (the projected effect or what is hoped to be achieved).

Performance Indicator - A value or characteristic for measuring results (the quantifier or qualifier of performance).

Processes/Activities - The processes, skills, or resources that are required to effectively accomplish a performance goal (what is needed to achieve the goal).

Performance Measure/Evaluation - The means used to verify and validate measured values (methods used for assessing if programs achieved objectives, or, the specific means to measure if outcomes were realized).

It should be noted that, in response to the legislative reform effort that resulted in OSRA, every segment of the maritime industry has taken the opportunity to inform Congress of its assessment of the Commission's current statutory goals and our performance of them. This assessment of Commission activities continues today. Our oversight committee in the House of Representatives held a hearing on May 3, 2000, to assess the industry one year after OSRA's effectiveness. The Commission's Chairman testified at that hearing, as did representatives from various sectors of the industry. Additionally, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing in March 2000 to review antitrust immunity in ocean shipping. Again, our Chairman and leading representatives of the industry testified. Moreover, the Commission has acted on several petitions for either reconsideration of its OSRA rules or clarification of Commission policy under this new statute. We remain in daily contact with all sectors of the industry, and Commission oversight operations under OSRA continue to be the subject of news articles, conferences, seminars, and other industry events.

Accordingly, the industry has provided the Commission with a clear perspective of what the Commission's future goals should be. While there is no consensus, it is clear that those involved in the various sectors of U.S. ocean shipping have a full understanding of the Commission's major program activities, and at the same time, the Commission is fully cognizant of the views of all parties with whom it interacts. Therefore, it was not necessary for the Commission to embark on an extensive outreach effort when developing this plan.

The Commission has provided all employees with copies of this performance plan. We also have modified all employee performance plans to ensure that they comport with the agency's Strategic and Annual Performance Plans, and that they contain specific elements and standards aimed at achieving the agency's strategic and performance goals. Performance of managers and staff will be evaluated in part on how they achieve the objectives in this plan.

FMC MISSION

To achieve its vision, the FMC's mission is:

Ensure the Nation's interests are met through an efficient, competitive, market-driven, and nondiscriminatory ocean transportation system that is free of unfair foreign maritime trade practices.

The basic principles of liner shipping regulation still are being challenged. The shipping industry continues to restructure itself, while shippers place an increasing importance on rates and service. International trade remains dependent upon an efficient and economic ocean transportation system. And OSRA significantly changes the commercial environment and oversight of U.S. ocean shipping. Therefore, it is imperative that the FMC identify the actions necessary to ensure that its regulatory and legislative initiatives produce a competitive and nondiscriminatory trading environment in the U.S. ocean commerce that is in harmony with and responsive to international shipping practices. We must focus our energies and efforts on this mission, and assure that the agency is organized and managed in a manner best suited to accomplish it with a minimum of government intervention and regulatory costs. Our actions also must encourage the development of a sound U.S.-flag liner fleet, and allow the dynamics of the marketplace to prevail. Accordingly, and in conformity with the Shipping Act of 1984, as amended by OSRA, the FMC has established the following four strategic goals.

FMC STRATEGIC GOALS

1. Compliance:  Promote the development of U.S. exports and the efficiency of ocean shipping by ensuring compliance with shipping statutes administered by the FMC.

2. Balanced Enforcement:  Foster economic efficiencies and reliance on marketplace factors by administering U.S. shipping statutes in a balanced and equitable manner that redresses excessive anticompetitive actions and restrictive practices of foreign governments.

3. Efficient Regulatory Process:  Promote a timely, efficient and decisive regulatory process, to enable all segments of the industry to plan and conduct their operations more effectively and with minimal regulatory costs.

4. Internal Capabilities:  Ensure the FMC has the organizational ability and the managerial leadership necessary to meet its regulatory, enforcement and educational responsibilities.

LINKAGE BETWEEN MISSION STATEMENT
AND STRATEGIC GOALS

Our strategic goals address all important FMC programmatic, policy, and management responsibilities. They were developed with a specific focus on accomplishing the basic thrusts of our mission.

Therefore, Strategic Goal No. 1 is designed to enable the FMC to carry out its regulatory mandates concerning international waterborne commerce in a manner that ensures compliance with the substantive provisions of the shipping statutes it administers. Accomplishing this goal should minimize the unjust discrimination and undue preference or prejudice that precludes certain shipping interests from obtaining rates or service levels that can render their businesses more economic and efficient. Curbing other malpractices should enable all industry participants to concentrate on fair and legal means of increasing operational efficiency, secure in the knowledge that competitors are not engaging in widespread illegal actions aimed at enhancing short-term bottom-line profits without concern for the harmful long-term effects on the industry. Effective accomplishment of this goal also can help to promote the growth of U.S. exports.

The purpose of Strategic Goal No. 2 is to foster economic efficiencies and reliance on typical marketplace factors, and redress excessive anticompetitive practices harmful to international commerce. This is a direct link to our mission statement's call for an efficient, competitive, market-driven ocean transportation system. We must be prepared to address malpractice activity that has market-distorting consequences. And our continuing efforts to effectively address the actions of foreign governments that adversely affect our foreign trade and U.S. interests operating in that trade comport with that aspect of our mission aimed at creating an environment "free of unfair foreign maritime trade practices."

The primary intention of Strategic Goal No. 3 is to minimize regulatory costs by increasing the efficiency and decisiveness of the FMC's various regulatory processes. Increasing our efficiency and timeliness will produce more expedient action to address matters that are perpetuating discrimination or precluding industry efficiency, thereby reducing the industry's costs in pursuing matters before the Commission. More decisive action on our part will help to remove uncertainties as to statutory interpretations or the application of FMC rules. Such uncertainties can delay either operational efficiencies or technological changes which would foster a more economical ocean shipping system.

Finally, we have developed a single comprehensive goal designed to improve internal Commission management and operations. Enhancing our management oversight and improving employee morale can both foster the accomplishment of various Administration directives and programs in this regard, while putting us in a position to more effectively address the specific aims of our mission.

Achieving these mission-driven goals will enable us to effectively address the external factors we face, while assuring an equitable and efficient administration of the shipping statutes under our jurisdiction. Our processes and procedures will be refined or updated as necessary. We are committed to accomplishing our strategic goals and the outcome goals related to them. Therefore, specific means have been identified to enable the FMC to achieve these goals in the most cost-efficient and least disruptive manner possible.