ESC-ELAA showdown in Brussels

ESC-ELAA showdown in Brussels    The European Shippers’ Council Wednesday attacked the European Liner Affairs Association, claiming the carrier lobby group has withheld information about its revised proposals for a post-liner conference system in Europe, by side-stepping the ESC and directly contacting shippers.
   In December, the European Commission made its proposal to repeal EC Regulation 4056/86, which grants liner conferences an exemption to set common freight rates and cooperate on capacity. The EC said at the time that the ELAA’s original information exchange system plans “should not be accepted as is.”
   “We have been very excited about starting a dialogue with the ELAA about the future of the liner shipping industry once the conference system is abandoned and to work together on a shared agenda,” said Nicolette van der Jagt, secretary general of the ESC. “But we have told the ELAA that we will not agree with anything that is seeking to replace the current conference system with the establishment of information exchanges that seeks to evaluate information on carrier costs, volumes and market shares.”
   “We have told the lines that the future is about service performance and not liner shipping regulation or structures that seek to replace the conference structures with new and possibly even more powerful ones. As a consequence of ESC’s position, the ELAA is seeking support from individual shippers,” van der Jagt said.
   “Our concern is that the ELAA will not present to these individual shippers the whole story, and hide their real intentions of creating global discussion agreements, whereby the lines can continue to manage and manipulate the market.
   “By refusing to release to the ESC the carrier group’s latest scheme to deal with a replacement plan for the liner conference block exemption regulation to the ESC, ELAA is merely attempting to limit the public’s scrutiny while advancing its own vision of liner shipping control over market forces for the so-called ‘benefit of the customer.’
   “Shippers are well advised to treat ELAA’s questionnaire with extreme caution, to get the full facts about their proposals, and to be aware of the motives behind their initiative.”
   The ELAA said the ESC’s remarks were off-track.
   “We are surprised to see the comments because the revised proposal is not yet complete. As soon as it is the ESC and other shipper bodies will get a copy,” said Chris Bourne, ELAA executive director.
   “Obviously we do talk to customers of lines as we are interested in their opinions in what direction the industry needs going forward.”
   The EC is expected later this year to publish its guidelines on the application of the competition rules to the sector and to examine any potential replacement model.