(a) Time. The underwriting agent will issue an Open Cargo Policy within fifteen (15) days after the completion by the applicant of the requirements set forth in §§ 308.506 and 308.507 unless the time for issuance is extended by the Maritime Administrator in writing. The underwriting agent may not make any Open Cargo Policy effective with respect to shipments attaching on a date earlier than the date when the application was completed, but he may make it effective on the date of the completion of the application or any date thereafter requested by the applicant.

(b) Numbering. Each Open Cargo Policy supplied to the underwriting agent by the Maritime Administrator shall be numbered by MARAD before it is supplied to the underwriting agent. No two numbers shall be the same. The underwriting agent when issuing the policy shall add at the end of the policy number the agency number assigned to that underwriting agent, and where policies are issued by more than one office of an underwriting agent, the issuing office shall also be identified in the policy number. For example, policies issued by an office in New York will be designated by “NY” and policies issued in San Francisco will be designated by “SF” prefixed to the underwriting agent's agency number.