India Relaxes Vessel Sharing Pacts Regulation
The government of India may continue to exempt vessel sharing agreements among shipping companies from the purview of fair trade watchdog CCI, reports Press Trust of India.
The government felt that such pacts are unlikely to hurt competition, after the CCI and the Director General of Shipping reviewed the situation during the last exemption period.
The Vessel Sharing Agreement (VSA) is a common practice in the shipping industry that allows entities to share space in each other's vessels.
An official statement said that the Corporate Affairs Ministry is expected to soon issue a notification with regard to exempting VSAs from the ambit of Competition Commission of India (CCI).
A one-year exemption, which was earlier provided by the government, expired in December last year. That exemption was applicable for carriers of all nationalities operating ships of any nationality from any Indian port.