SHIPOWNER BODY CENSA IS ABSORBED BY ICS

SHIPOWNER BODY CENSA IS ABSORBED BY ICS    The Council of European and Japanese Shipowners’ Associations, the international body that represents European and Japanese carriers on competition policy issues, has been merged into the London-based International    Chamber of Shipping.
   Since it was formed in 1974, Censa has provided a platform for national shipowners’ associations in Europe and Japan to promote open and fair international shipping markets, and multilateral rather than unilateral regulation with regard to commercial shipping policy.
   The focus of Censa activity in recent years has been U.S. shipping policy questions and discussions within the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
   The new International Chamber of Shipping shipping policy committee will work in these and other areas.
   The chairman of the new committee will be Nicos Peraticos, of Greece.
   Robert T. Bishop, secretary general of Censa, has transferred to the International Chamber of Shipping in the new post of shipping policy adviser.
   Censa said that the International    Chamber of Shipping has a wider representation, with 40 national shipowners’ associations that are members. All those associations which were previously members of Censa belong to the International    Chamber of Shipping.
   Some of the responsibilities of Censa, such as representing international carriers in the U.S., were effectively assumed by the Washington-based World Shipping Council when the lobby group was established in 2000.