Status Of U.S. Shipping Conference Exemption

The U.S. regulatory agency charged with policing competition in the international liner shipping sector is undertaking a major study of the effects of abolishing liner conference competition exemptions by the European Union. The move does not, however, signal a serious legislative effort in the United States to repeal antitrust immunity for liner shipping in the near term, but rather marks the beginning of a multi-year process of policy review.

The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission ("FMC") in November 2009 announced a "comprehensive" study of the impact on U.S. trades as a result of the EU's elimination of its shipping conference exemption. The study will review the two years prior to and the two years since the EU's announcement in October 2008 of the repeal of its block exemption. The study will include analyses of changes in competition, services, vessel capacity, carrier market structures, rates and surcharges.