The transport division of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is urging an end to antitrust exemptions that allow ocean carriers to discuss and fix rates. Following a study that took nearly two years, the division has issued a report to the 30-nation group that also urges careful scrutiny of any capacity-limiting agreements among ocean carriers.

The report, Competition Policy in Liner Shipping, acknowledges that the debate over liner antitrust policy is sharply divided. "Carriers generally feel they have everything to gain by perpetuating the century-old organization of their industry—and this review indicates that they probably do benefit," the report says. "Shippers, on the other hand, generally feel they have everything to gain by doing away with the antitrust exemptions granted to liner shipping—and this review indicates that they are probably right."

To strike the necessary balance between competing needs, the report recommends that member countries consider removing antitrust exemptions for price fixing and rate discussions while allowing carriers to retain other operational arrangements. The report points to the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 1998 (OSRA)—which revamped rate setting in U.S. trades, allowing shippers and carriers to negotiate confidential contracts—as an example of the direction in which regulation should move.

Whatever approach they take, the OECD report stresses, member countries should adhere to three key principles for the liner trades. Simply stated, they should allow shippers and carriers the freedom to negotiate rates and other terms under confidential agreements; enable the use of contracts to protect agreements; and allow carriers to pursue capacity agreements with one another as long as they do not confer undue market power.