Carriers dismiss EC consultants? conclusions on removal of immunity

Carriers dismiss EC consultantsÆ conclusions on removal of immunity    The European Liner Affairs Association, the Brussels-based lobby group of container shipping lines, has dismissed a recent consultant report on the impact of removing liner conferences' immunity in Europe as “highly speculative” and insufficient to draw conclusions.
   The ICF Consultant report, commissioned by the European Commission, found there was “widespread, but not total, theoretical and practical agreement” that the abolition of liner conferences' block exemption would not have a significant overall impact on capacity and market structure.
   But the European Liner Affairs Association said it believes the report “is highly speculative, at best represents only preliminary research, contains minimal factual evidence and fails to address two key issues.” The carrier lobby said ICF failed to grasp that the prime focus of liner conferences is to secure stability of supply, and their ability to exchange views and facts to make better individual investment decisions.
   The European Liner Affairs Association quoted extracts of the report that said its conclusions rest on “incomplete data, which make any attempt at a pure empirical analysis infeasible (sic),” and “admittedly rest on the somewhat weak evidence of anecdotal facts and theoretical economics.” The carrier group took this as an admission that the consultant’s analysis was not backed by facts.
   Ken Soerensen, head of the carrier group, described the ICF report as a “pre-study.”
   “The European Liner Affairs Association is disappointed that this key element of its own detailed oral and written submissions made during the course of the commission’s review has been neglected by the ICF report,” it said. The report merely considered the potential effects on supply resulting from the abolition of rate fixing and increased competition, but failed to consider this issue from a capacity planning perspective, according to the carrier group.
   Ocean carriers argue that the ability of shipping lines to discuss supply and demand through conferences helps them to plan investments.