HYDE WON’T ACT AGAINST CARRIERS’ ANTITRUST IMMUNITY

   Henry Hyde, R-Ill., chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, said he will not move to repeal or make changes in ocean carriers’ antitrust immunity rights under the new U.S. Ocean Shipping Reform Act.
   Hyde disclosed his intentions at the close of a two-hour hearing which
focused on the antitrust issue and alleged ocean carrier abuses, particularly against smaller shippers and non-vessel-operating common carriers during an eastbound transpacific space crunch last year.
   "I have long questioned the justification for the antitrust immunity provided in the shipping act," Hyde said, arguing that the immunity allows foreign-owned carriers to benefit at the expense of U.S. shippers and
NVOCCs.
   Hyde, however, took note of the ocean lines’ current plight. "We need to
have a healthy shipping industry, and I’m not sure we have a healthy
shipping industry."
   Appearing jointly, shipping-line presidents John Clancey, of Sea-Land
Service, and Tim Rhein, of APL Ltd., said removing the carriers’ antitrust
immunity would seriously disadvantage U.S. carriers and would undermine the shipping industry’s already shaky condition. Ocean carriers lost an estimated $3.4 billion in the major trade lanes last year, they said, including about $30 million per week in the transpacific.
   The Federal Maritime Commission investigated transpacific carriers last
year over charges the lines either refusing to provide shippers space or
charging rates above those negotiated in service contracts.