EC COMPETITION OFFICIAL PLAYS DOWN ANTI-TRUST CHANGES IN EUROPE

EC COMPETITION OFFICIAL PLAYS DOWN ANTI-TRUST CHANGES IN EUROPE    A senior official of the European Commission’s powerful competition directorate said that the EC has no plans to withdraw the anti-trust immunity of liner conferences.
   “I should state that the Commission is not at present considering any proposal to modify or abolish the block exemption under EC competition rules,” said Juergen Mensching, head of the transport unit at the EC’s
competition directorate.
   However, the EC will send an official to attend the May 25-26 maritime workship of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that will discuss the possibility of changing international shipping anti-trust
immunity rules.
   “The OECD has prepared a discussion paper suggesting that competition exemptions for liner conferences should be narrowed,” Mensching said. The
EC is interested in hearing the views of other competition and transport authorities, he added.
   European and Asian shippers’ councils support the repeal of the anti-trust immunity of conferences.