The Japan/U.S. Eastbound Freight Conference, the last
transpacific conference still operational, will be wound up on Aug. 1.
A conference official in Tokyo said that the reason for the termination
of the agreement is the new U.S. Ocean Shipping Reform Act, enacted on May 1.
The U.S. reform "has made conferences meaningless," as
shippers are now switching to individual agreements with carriers, he said.
The decision to disband the Japan/U.S. eastbound conference follows the
indefinite suspension on April 30 of both the Asia North America Eastbound Rate Agreement
and the Transpacific Westbound Rate Agreement.
The 10 members of the Japan/U.S. Eastbound Freight Conference are APL,
Hapag-Lloyd, "K" Line, Maersk, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, NYK, OOCL, P&O Nedlloyd,
Sea-Land and Wilhelmsen.
The decision to terminate the Pacific conferences does not affect
existing non-binding discussion agreements in the trade, such as the eastbound
Transpacific Stabilization Agreement and the Westbound Transpacific Stabilization
Agreement.
The enactment of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act has, to date, weakened
the conference system to a greater degree than predicted by most industry analysts. The
list of conferences that have disappeared since the beginning of the year include: ANERA,
the TWRA, the Japan/U.S. Eastbound Freight Conference, the "8900" Lines grouping
of the U.S./Mideast trade and the Inter-American Freight Conference.
