CONSULTATION ON CBER LAUNCHED
On 9 August, the European Commission launched a call for evidence inviting feedback on the performance of the EU legal framework which exempts liner shipping consortia from EU antitrust rules (Consortia Block Exemption Regulation or ‘CBER').
CLECAT has been calling for an early start of the review process since many months, as European businesses and other parties in the supply chain have suffered huge disruption to the movement of goods by container shipping since the Regulation was last renewed in April 2020, with many sailings being cancelled or diverted to other ports, and ports being skipped. At the same time shipping rates have more than quadrupled on many routes and continue to remain 3 to 4 times higher than in 2019.
The Regulation exempts container shipping lines from many of the checks and balances of EU competition law and permits them to exchange commercially-sensitive information to manage the number and size of ships deployed and the frequency and timing of sailings on trade routes around the world.
CLECAT, and many other users of container shipping services, are of the view that the benefits of the exemptions from general competition law enjoyed by the shipping lines are not being shared fairly between the lines and the rest of the economy. This constitutes a compelling reason for a robust policy review of the European Commission.
The Commission also sent targeted questionnaires to interested parties in the maritime liner shipping supply chain (i.e. carriers, shippers and freight forwarders, port and terminal operators) on the impact of consortia between liner shipping companies, as well as of the CBER on their operations since 2020. Interested parties can comment until 3 October 2022.
The Commission’s press release notes that feedback from stakeholders will support the Commission in its evaluation whether the CBER should expire or be extended again, with or without amendments. The Commission will summarise the results of the evaluation in a Staff Working Document that is planned to be published in the last quarter of 2022.