Policy & Compliance
Why the CMA wants an end to liner cartel exemptions The UK Competition and Markets Authority has published the reasoning behind its decision not to seek replacement of the Assimilated Liner Consortia Block Exemption Regulation
T he UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published its fi nal decision on 9 February 2024 not to recommend to the Secretary of State the replacement of the Assimilated Liner Shipping Consortia Block Exemption Regulation (the Assimilated CBER), which expires on 25 April 2024. The CMA and European Commission (the Commission) carried out separate reviews of the CBER. The CMA’s initial proposed recommendation was to replace the Assimilated CBER with a Liner Shipping Consortia Block Exemption Order (UK CBEO) when the Assimilated CBER expires on 25 April 2024.
In a reversal of its initial decision to retain a CBEO after the first stage of its consultation process, on 10 October 2023, the CMA published a provisional decision not to extent the Block exemption. On 17 November 2023, the Agency published results of the consultation on its October provisional decision to recommend that the Secretary of State for Business and Trade does not replace the assimilated CBER with a UK CBEO. On behalf of its Members, the British International Freight Association (BIFA) had submitted a 20-page response as part of the initial consultation.
12 | April 2024
www.bifa.org
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