Containerized shipping companies and users of these maritime carriers have submitted again today to the attention of the European Commission the reasons why the former consider it necessary to further extend the validity of the Shipping Block Exemption Regulation containerized, whose deadline is currently set for the April 25, 2024, while the latter are clearly opposed to this hypotheses even if, compared to before, they suggest that they could perhaps not be opposed to an extension of the rule if this was amended to take account of their comments.

In a letter to Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition and Vice-President of the EU Commission, thanking for consultation on the effectiveness of the Consortia Block Exemption Regulation (CBER) (2009/906) initiated by the European Commission at the beginning of August ( of 9 August 2022), regulation that is currently under consideration of the Commission's Directorate-General for Competition, representatives of users of scheduled maritime services have highlighted that "the dramatic changes that have occurred in the market of container transport since the last renewal in 2020 ( of 24 March 2020, ed), have shown that nature of the block exemption, originally intended to cover only port-to-port services, allowed carriers to benefit from important market developments'.

The letter, signed by CLECAT, FEPORT, Global Shippers Forum, European Tugowners Association, European Barge Union, International Union for Road-Rail Combined Transport, European Sea Ports Organisation and FIDI Global Alliance, continues specifying that the signatories of the letter are united in the call for 'a change in the regulatory framework in which the containerised shipping companies can cooperate and, therefore, not an extension (unaltered) of the exemption regulation by category for consortia'. Exemption regulations for EU category for consortia that are in force continuously since 1995 and merged into the current form of the Consortia Block Exemption Regulation for five years first adopted in 2009.

'As users or suppliers in the container transport sector - continues the letter - we have lost hope that the advantages of the block exemption are equally shared and that achieving its intended purpose. The purpose of the policy on competition is to protect the interests of users and consumers with predatory effects of dominant suppliers and the establishment of cartel practices. The experiences, the frustrations and dissatisfaction of large swathes of European companies for the behavior of global shipping companies - underline the signatories - require a change of approach what way to restore confidence in the shipping industry containerized, which is vital for the economies of states members and to meet the needs of consumers and businesses European'.

For their part, the World Shipping shipowners' associations Council, International Chamber of Shipping and Asian Shipowners' Associations have instead sent the European Commission a long document with which they believe they have demonstrated 'that the CBER is essential and that its period of application should be extended. The document highlights that the CBER facilitates the creation and operation of consortia between transport companies liner shipping providing specific legal certainty for the industry, enables carriers to respond promptly to changing market conditions and reduces costs for compliance of the rules'.

According to the WSC, the ICS and the SAA, "there is no other source. of EU guidelines that can serve as an appropriate substitute for the CBER'. In addition, the three associations consider that "the failure to renew the CBER would entail, as a minimum, an increase in the compliance costs and less flexibility for carriers seeking to create or modify consortium agreements; it could also result in some carriers abstaining from enter into new consortium agreements or even withdraw from the existing consortia. This - emphasize WSC, ICS and ASA - would be a blow to the EU, considering the multitude of advantages associated with consortia, including: environmental efficiency and a an indispensable contribution to the EU's fight against change climatic; macroeconomic benefits linked to investment and job creation and more opportunities commercial; benefits for consumers, including lower costs, higher frequencies and better port coverage.'

In the document of the shipowners' associations it is reiterated that through consortia the shipping companies do not do activities of cartel, but agree "a sharing of ships that is a purely operational measure allowing carriers to use ships more efficiently while continuing to compete on tariffs and other commercial conditions. Sharing of ships - they explain - expands the range of destinations and services available to users and reduces gaps on board the ships, reducing emissions'.

"From an operational and environmental point of view - he explained the Secretary General of the Asian Shipowners' Association, Yuichi Sonoda, presenting the document - the sharing of ships is similar to public transport and car-pooling schemes: look for to maximise efficiency and reduce emissions through the shared use of transport resources and infrastructure, significantly reducing emissions per load unit transported'.

Explaining why in recent years the maritime freight of the containerized services have marked a dizzying rise, increase of the prices that have aroused the protests of users, the shipowners' associations have noted that the assessment of the CBER by the European Commission takes place against the backdrop of a unprecedented global crisis, with Covid-19 interrupting the intermodal supply chains around the world, creating significant packages bottle in maritime terminals, in internal warehouses and in distribution centres and in road transport systems, railway and river that connect the ports with the hinterland. A in turn - specified WSC, ICS and ASA - these problems to land have caused the multiplication of the number of waiting ships outside ports, significantly reducing capacity effective of the ship even if - they pointed out - the carriers Oceanic have deployed every available container ship of property and rented.

John Butler, President and Ceo of World Shipping Council, said that "the frustration that the chargers have understandably experimented with service delays and for the increase in costs has been channeled towards the carriers, the their ship-sharing agreements and regulatory instruments facilitating such agreements, including the CBER. But the data shown and the regulatory authorities - assured Butler - agree that the problems were caused by factors at the outside the control of carriers and not from the sharing of ships'.

Also the Secretary General of the International Chamber of Shipping, Guy Platten, highlighted that "sharing of ships is a tool recognized by the authorities of worldwide regulation as a basis for reliable movement of international trade. As we go out from the pandemic and the markets normalize - added Platten - we need common and predictable regulations around the world to help transport and commercial networks stabilise'.

In the WSC document, ICS and ASA recall that the CBER applies only to maritime carriers with a combined market share less than 30%, only allows ship-sharing agreements (Vessel Sharing Agreement) in order to improve the service and efficiency, strictly prohibits the exchange of information on freight, with each member of a VSA being required to determine its trading conditions, including freight values, and provides that carriers within a VSA compete with each other and with other carriers outside that VSA when they sell their services to customers.