CHEMICAL, PLASTICS SHIPPERS WANT DOJ TO OVERSEE RAIL MERGERS

CHEMICAL, PLASTICS SHIPPERS WANT DOJ TO OVERSEE RAIL MERGERS    Shippers belonging to the American Chemistry Association (formerly the Chemical Manufacturers’ Association) and the American Plastics Council want government authority over rail mergers transferred from the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to the Department of Justice.
   “The extreme concentration of the North American rail industry and the serious anticompetitive dangers posed by further railroad mergers or alliances threaten the ability of American businesses to effectively serve their customers,” the two groups told the STB.
   Absent a transfer of jurisdiction, the chemical and plastics shippers    called on the STB to establish “concrete guidelines” to ensure mergers do not produce anticompetitive consequences.
      In support of its policy to transfer authority to the Justice Department, Fred Webber, president and chief executive officer of the American Chemistry Council, said “railroads need to get on the same track as other industries and play by the same rules.”
   Major league baseball and railroads are the only industries exempt from the antitrust laws administered by the Justice Department, Webber said.