Ocean freight company ECU Line Canada Inc. and two of its
executives have pleaded guilty to price fixing. They participated
in a cartel that fixed surcharges for the supply of non vessel
operating common carrier (NVOCC) export consolidation services
from Canada to various foreign destinations between January 1, 2005
and March 6, 2011. NVOCCs arrange the consolidation of
less-than-container load shipments into containers, the shipment of
these containers by ocean, and the deconsolidation of the
containers at the destination.
ECU was fined $1 million. The company's executive
vice-president was sentenced to a four month conditional sentence,
plus 30 hours of community service, while the vice president was
sentenced to a three month conditional sentence, plus 20 hours of
community service.
