Cargo Shipping to Lose EU Antitrust Exemption from 2024
Cargo shipping companies will from next year no longer enjoy a decades-long exemption from EU rules against anti-competitive agreements because this derogation does not boost competition any more, EU antitrust regulators said on Tuesday.First adopted in 2009, the Consortia Block Exemption Regulation (CBER) allows liner shipping operators with a combined market share below 30% to team up to provide joint cargo transport services as long as they do not fix prices or share markets between themselves.The European Commission said it would let the exemption, extended in 2014 and 2020, to lapse in Ap
EU Extends Liner Shipping Consortia Exemption
The European Commission has extended by another five years until April 2020 the validity of the existing legal framework exempting, if certain conditions are met, liner shipping consortia from EU antitrust rules. After a public consultation, the commission concluded that the exemption has worked well, providing legal certainty to agreements which bring benefits to customers and do not unduly distort competition, and that current market circumstances warrant a prolongation. The maritime consortia block exemption regulation allows shipping lines with a combined market share of below 30% to enter into cooperation agreements to provide joint cargo transport services (so-called "consortia").
