Shipper group welcomes comments by EU Competition Commissioners

Vestager has promised to compete GRU probe as quickly as possible.    The Global Shippers’ Forum said it welcomed a report that the EU’s new commissioner for competition, Margrethe Vestager, will monitor mega-alliances in the container shipping industry.
   “Effective monitoring of such alliances is absolutely essential to ensure they are compliant with the general provisions of the EU competition rules,” said Chris Welsh, the secretary general of the GSF.
   GSF made its comments after Vestager told the newsletter Shipping Watch that “the commission will continue to monitor developments in the container industry and will scrutinize every concern relating to interference with competition that the commission discovers on its own or which is reported.”
   She also said the EU is seeking to complete an investigation of general rate increases by carriers, which was announced in November 2013, “as quickly as possible, while also ensuring a quality investigation.”