EU Extends Shipping Consortia Competition Waver

The European Commission extended for five years a block exemption allowing shipping companies to form consortia covering the transport of cargo. The Commission said the block exemption automatically covered liner shipping consortia that have a market share of below 30 percent.

The decision confirmed the Commission's favorable attitude towards liner shipping consortia, which "usually allow shipping lines to rationalize their activities and achieve economies of scale, thus improving the productivity and quality of liner shipping services," Commission officials said.