News / BIFA urges UK to follow EC's 'sensible decision' on liner consortia

UK freight forwarders have responded to the European Commission’s decision not to renew the Consortia Block Exemption Regulation (CBER) with a plea for the UK government to follow suit. 

“The EC has taken a sensible decision, and the UK government should follow suit to ensure that shipping lines will be subject to competition law,” said Steve Parker, BIFA director general (pictured). 

“Ideally [it] would follow the EC’s lead and not retain the equivalent of a block exemption regime for the liner shipping industry in the UK, when the current one expires in April 2024,” he added. 

When the EC called for industry feedback on CBER renewal in January, The Loadstar reported that Jacob Rees-Mogg, then secretary for business, energy and industrial strategy, had proposed a Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, which aimed to scrap all EU law retained in the UK, including CBER. 

However, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recommended he “replace the CBER with a liner shipping Consortia Block Exemption Order (CBEO), tailored to the needs of businesses operating in the UK and UK consumers”, over concerns that shipping costs for consumers could rise considerably without a regulation aligned to the mainland Europe market. 

Mr Parker said: “In January, BIFA expressed its surprise that the CMA appeared to issue a provisional position which suggested the extension of a potentially modified CBER into UK legislation.“

He said freight forwarders, among others, were “extremely concerned that practices undertaken by container shipping lines, as well as easements and exemptions provided to them, have been distorting the operations of the free market, to the detriment of international trade”. 

Mr Parker concluded: “BIFA, and its members, are not anti-shipping line. The association wants to ensure there is a suitable balance between them as carriers and our members as customers, points made during various meetings with the CMA.”