Europe, U.S. and Japan investigate shipping cartel
The European Commission (EC) has said it is working with U.S. and Japanese Competition Authorities as "it has reasons to believe" certain shipping companies are involved in an illegal cartel, Ship & Bunker reports.
The EC said on September 6, 2012 it carried out unannounced inspections at the premises of several providers of maritime transport services for cars and construction, and agricultural rolling machinery saying it "has reasons to believe that the companies concerned may have violated Article 101 of the [Treaty on the functioning of the European Union] TFEU prohibiting cartels and restrictive business practices."
The U.S. Justice Department confirmed Friday it was looking into the potentially illegal pricing practices. Reuters and Bloomberg both reported an emailed statement from spokeswoman Gina Talamona said simply, "We are coordinating with the European Commission, the Japanese Fair Trade Commission and other international competition authorities," without going into further detail.
Requests for Information
The companies investigated were not named, but Wilh. Wilhelmsen Holding ASA (WWH) said it has received a request for information from the Competition Bureau Canada, and its partly owned companies Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WWL) and EUKOR Car Carriers have been visited by Japanese authorities as part of an investigation related to the Japan Anti Monopoly Act.
In addition, WWH said WWL has received requests for information from the EU Commission and both WWL and EUKOR have received requests for information from federal U.S. authorities and the Competition Bureau Canada.
"The purpose of these requests is to ascertain whether there is evidence of any infringement of competition law related to possible price cooperation between carriers and allocation of customers," it said.
"There are no further details about the nature of the investigation, but the companies in question will fully co-operate with the investigators," it added.
Reuters reported Danish shipping and oil group A.P. Moller-Maersk said it had not been raided.
WWH said that the fact that inspections were carried out and that requests for information have been sent does not mean that the companies have engaged in anti-competitive behaviour.
The EC statement said unannounced inspections were "a preliminary step in investigations into suspected cartels" and it "does not mean that the companies are guilty of anti-competitive behaviour," adding that there is no legal deadline to complete cartel inquiries.