OECD TALKS ON SHIPPING ANTITRUST REFORMS DIVIDE INDUSTRY

OECD TALKS ON SHIPPING ANTITRUST REFORMS DIVIDE INDUSTRY    Representatives of ocean carriers, shippers and governments could not reach a consensus view about regulatory reform during talks held in Paris on May 25 and 26 and organized by the Organization for Economic Cooperation Development.
   Wolfgang Hubner, division head, maritime transport at the OECD, said that 120 delegates from around the world attended the maritime regulatory reform workshop. The delegates included representatives from virtually all the countries that are members of the OECD and showed a “very keen interest” in the debates about the need to reassess antitrust exemptions in shipping, Hubner said.
   But no firm conclusion about the need for reform emerged from the big inter-governmental gathering.
   A discussion paper prepared by the OECD prior to the meeting had suggested narrowing the exemptions of liner conferences and other agreements between shipping lines.
   During the Paris workshop, representatives of shippers called for a reform of the antitrust laws, but their views were opposed by ocean carrier delegates.
   “This was an exchange of views,” said Jerome Orsel, manager in charge of international transport at the French Shippers’ Council. “The OECD is not the place to negotiate.”
   The U.S. administration reiterated its view that the antitrust exemption of conferences should be retained, following the enactment last year of the U.S. Ocean Shipping Reform Act.
   “It was a pretty predictable discussion,” said Robert Bishop, secretary-general of the Council of European and Japanese Shipowners’ Associations.
   Bishop said that none of the governments indicated a plan to change their current maritime competition regulations.
   However, according to French Shippers’ Council, the Canadian government said that it was in favor of reform.
   The OECD said that it would continue to study the issue. It is not known when the OECD will convene the next meeting about regulatory reform of antitrust laws.
   “This question remains topical,” Orsel said.