NCBFAA SUPPORTS LEGISLATION TO END CARRIER IMMUNITY

NCBFAA SUPPORTS LEGISLATION TO END CARRIER IMMUNITY    The National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America has asked its members to add their signatures to a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., R-Wis., endorsing his legislation — H.R. 1253 — to end ocean carrier antitrust immunity.
   “Ocean carrier antitrust immunity has not served the interests of the U.S. economy. It is important that antiquated U.S. laws governing international ocean transportation are changed to fulfill the promise of further growth in international commerce, both exports and imports, which have proven to be the mainstay of the U.S. economy in past decades,” the letter said.
   The letter also cites the European Union’s restrictions on collective pricing activities by ocean carriers, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s global analysis of ocean carrier antitrust immunity, and a World Bank economist’s recent paper calling for the end of such immunity.