The EU Commission issues a revised transatlantic conference agreement

Williams, Charles

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6 May 1999

The EU Commission issues a revised transatlantic conference agreement

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Reference

EU Commission, Commission Notice pursuant to Article 12(2) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 4056/86 and Article 12(2) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1017/68 concerning Case IV/37.396 Revised Trans-Atlantic Conference Agreement, 1999/C 125/04, 6 May 1999

"Revised TACA"*Introduction The Commission’s TACA (Trans-Atlantic Conference Agreement) decision of 16 September 1998 found that certain agreements between the liner shipping companies party to the TACA restricted competition and neither fell within the block exemption of liner conferences nor qualified for individual exemption. Under those agreements, the TACA parties fixed prices for inland transport, restricted the availability of individual service contracts between shipping lines and their customers, and fixed freight forwarder commissions. The decision also found that the TACA parties had abused their joint dominant position [1]. After the Commission’s decision of September 1998, several shipping lines withdrew from the TACA leaving eight