TRIPARTITE SHIPPER GROUP KEEPS PRESSURE ON CARRIER IMMUNITY

TRIPARTITE SHIPPER GROUP KEEPS PRESSURE ON CARRIER IMMUNITY    The Tripartite Shippers’ Group of the U.S. National Industrial Transportation League, the Japan Shippers’ Council and the European Shippers’ Council said that it will submit further information to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to push for regulatory reform in ocean shipping.
   Following the seventh annual tripartite meeting held on Sept. 10-12 in Haifa, Israel, the shippers’ group said that its cooperation “continues to bring about fundamental changes in ocean shipping, leading to a more consumer-responsive, innovative and market-driven transport environment.”
   The tripartite group noted the representation it made to the OECD’s regulatory reform workshop, convened in Paris earlier this year, as an important step.
   “The tripartite’s delegation to the OECD workshop has been successful in focusing attention on the need to undertake further work on the effects of common pricing and the impact of discussion and stabilization agreements on shippers and shipowners,” the group said in a statement.
   The shippers’ group said that it will be submitting additional information that supports the OECD’s promised detailed study on the carrier immunity issue and discussion agreements. The tripartite group will provide the OECD with information on:
   * Immunity and pricing in international ocean shipping.
   * Entry and exit from trade routes.
   * Carriers’ financial positions.
   * Industry cost structures and cost trends.
   * Market concentration.
   * Activities of discussion agreements.
   * The role of technology in reducing costs and increasing
flexibility.
   The Tripartite meeting in Haifa was also attended by the shippers’ councils of Hong Kong, Thailand, and the Federation of ASEAN Shippers’ Councils. Their joint declaration was co-signed by all councils and by the shippers’ councils of Canada and Singapore.
   Tripartite delegates reaffirmed their support for pending reform legislation in Canada, including proposals to implement “sunset” provisions to phase out the antitrust immunity of conferences.
   In a separate development, the shipper group said that cargo liability rules and laws need to be modernized. “Individual tripartite members will encourage their national governments and appropriate regulatory bodies to support changes,” the shipper group said.
   The tripartite shipper organization wants to:
   * Define a package as the individual units packed in the container or pallet and enumerated in the bill of lading or similar document, and not the container pallet itself.
   * Increase per-package limitations to a level “that realistically reflects the value of the loss or damaged shipment.
   * Eliminate the error of navigation defense, which allows carriers to avoid any liability for cargo loss or damage “when the carrier has negligently navigated or managed the vessel.”