Is Your Shipper Licensed?

International shipping and moving companies must be licensed or registered by the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), an agency of the United States Government. As a part of the licensing process, such companies are required to post an insurance surety bond for your protection.

When you send a balikbayan box with a fully-licensed shipping company, you are trusting your parcel with a firm that has invested much time, effort and money to insure that each parcel arrives safely at its intended destination. Such companies will go to great lengths to protect against theft and other issues that would harm their investment…and their reputation.

Verify the legal status of any shipping company by visiting the FMC’s Non-Vessel Operating Common Carriers List (NVOCC) or the FMC’s Ocean Freight Forwarders List (OTI).