In brief - ocean liner shipping industry participants should
take advantage of the window for submissions to the ACCC and
prepare for a significant shift in the exemptions landscape in 2020
and beyond
In December 2019, the Australian Competition and Consumer
Commission (ACCC) released its long-awaited Discussion Paper
regarding a proposed block exemption for ocean liner shipping.
For more than 50 years, ocean carriers in Australia have had
access to varying exemptions from otherwise anti-competitive
prohibitions (generally in line with most of Australia's
largest trading partners). The current iteration of the exemption
regime is set out in Part X of the Competition and Consumer Act
2010 (Cth) (the Act) - a regime which is well understood by shipper
and carrier interests alike, and which provides a degree of
certainty in an often uncertain and challenging operating
environment.
