CANADIAN SHIPPERS UNHAPPY WITH PROPOSED OCEAN SHIPPING REFORMS

CANADIAN SHIPPERS UNHAPPY WITH PROPOSED OCEAN SHIPPING REFORMS    The Canadian Shippers’ Council has voiced opposition to proposed legislation aimed at reforming Canada’s ocean liner shipping law.
   'The CSC said the proposed reforms are anticompetitive and outdated, and should be changed to conform more with the U.S. Ocean Shipping Reform Act.
   CSC is pressing for the right to negotiate confidential contracts directly with ocean carriers, sunsetting conferences’ antitrust immunity within five years, excluding stabilization agreements and other agreements between conferences and independent carriers from antitrust immunity, eliminating tariff filing with the government, and reducing the period of independent action from 15 days to five.
   The proposed reforms fails to “align Canadian regulations with OSRA and has virtually ignored all of CSC’s major recommendations,” the CSC said. “A new act must provide a balance of power between shippers and carriers.”