TACA CARRIERS TO AWAIT FINAL RULING ON $300-MILLION EC FINES

TACA CARRIERS TO AWAIT FINAL RULING ON $300-MILLION EC FINES    The Court of First Instance of Luxembourg has concluded hearings in the appeal case of Trans-Atlantic Conference Agreement shipping lines, paving the way for a final decision some time next year on whether the transatlantic carriers will have to pay 273 million ecu (about $300 million).
   The transatlantic carriers are seeking to annul, or at least reduce, the heavy fines imposed by the European Commission in 1998. The EC found at the time that TACA carriers had abused their dominant position in the transatlantic, and restricted the availability to shippers of individual service contracts. The fines were the highest the EC has ever levied against a group of companies.
   The March 26-27 hearings were the last step to allow judges to find additional arguments and evidence, before making a final court ruling on the validity of the carriers’ appeal.
   The EC, a party in the case, expects the European court to reach a decision in about a year. The European Shippers’ Council believes that it could take longer.
   In principle, shippers who have been overcharged or harmed by TACA’s anticompetitive practices could go to national courts to seek redress, particularly if the Court of First Instance upholds the EC's 1998 decision. But Nicolette van der Jagt, secretary-general of the European Shippers’ Council, said she was not aware of any shipper planning to ask for compensation through national courts.