WON: OCEAN CARRIER ANTITRUST IMMUNITY WILL DISAPPEAR

WON: OCEAN CARRIER ANTITRUST IMMUNITY WILL DISAPPEAR    Delmond J.H. Won, commissioner of the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission, reasserted his view to executives at the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America in Hollywood, Fla., Tuesday that “antitrust immunity will eventually disappear.”
   Won had opposed the antitrust immunity provision in the 1998 Ocean Shipping Reform Act, which allows carriers to “voluntarily” agree on rates and contract terms for their shippers.
   “While you negotiate your contract, you may, and you probably have, run into situations where a contract term that you want may be non-negotiable because it’s disadvantages to the carriers and, as a result, the carriers had earlier agreed to make that provision non-negotiable,” Won told the forwarders.
   “I continue to be concerned that the opportunities continue to exist for carriers to enter into contract negotiations having already agreed on what will or will not be negotiable based on what is advantageous to the carriers as a group,” he added.
   'However, Won urged the carriers in the audience to “go through your strategic planning as if you no longer have antitrust immunity.”
   “There are several reasons why I say that,” he said. “First, I do not believe that the issue is going away… Second, when you look at your business without the protection of antitrust immunity, your people will be forced to look at issues more creatively and your perspective will be much more customer-focused … and it is that focus that will bring you ultimate success.”