Press release

The European Shippers' Council has welcomed today's ruling of the Court of First Instance upholding the European Commission's decision that the Trans-Atlantic Conference Agreement was not a lawful liner conference. ESC hopes that this will draw a line under a decade-long dispute and not further distract shippers and carriers from their key business, which is to develop constructive dialogue.

Today's ruling from the Court of First Instance overruled an appeal by member lines of the TACA against the European Commission's refusal to exempt them from competition rules. However, the Court did remove the record fines of EUR 273 million that the EC imposed on the shipping lines.

The ESC supported the Commission's decision in September 1998. While the ESC still needs to study the details of the decision, the ESC accepts the ruling of the Court today. Nicolette van der Jagt, ESC's Secretary General, commented: 'While this ruling represents a satisfactory outcome for shippers, the world has moved on. This is reflected in the increasing usage of individual and confidential contracting between customers and suppliers on the North Atlantic routes in particular. Earlier Court rulings and Commission decisions have led to improvements in the transatlantic trade and made competition in this market much better through individual and confidential contracting. Some of the excesses and abuses of the liner conferences, particularly those on the North Atlantic have been curbed considerably by earlier legal challenges, court rulings and Commission decisions.'

'The ESC has argued for a complete removal of the liner shipping block exemption regulation, which lays down rules exempting liner conferences from the price fixing and capacity-sharing competition rules of the European Union. We hope that everyone will recognise that the existing regulations and exemptions have helped no one, caused considerable mistrust, distrust and disagreement and has no place in today's commercial environment. ESC believes that neither shippers nor shipping lines benefit from regulations that allow for collective cartel-like actions, including price-fixing. Shippers are nervous that keeping the present anti-trust immunity will keep alive the ability of conferences to revert to their former ways. We cannot let this situation arise again - the conference system must go.'

For further information contact: Nicolette van der Jagt, Secretary General of the ESC - Brussels 00 322 230 2113