Dive Brief:
The Competition Directorate of the European Commission, the European Freight Forwarders Association and the European Shippers Council sent a letter to the European Commission, accusing ocean carriers of breaking contracts, and are asking the regulatory authority to take steps to investigate the situation, according to a press release and emails from individuals involved in the discussions.
Along with contract violations, the concerns highlighted in the letter include carrier conditions for accepting bookings and the ability of ocean carriers to unilaterally set rates, according to the release.
The ocean alliances respective capacity management efforts have led to the recent hikes in container freight rates, the organizations said in their letter to the Commission, an excerpt of which was shared with Supply Chain Dive. The letter also notes that the carriers abilities to cut capacity while raising rates earlier in 2020 helped to create the current issues.
By Mike Wackett (The Loadstar)
As Asia-Europe container spot rates continue to skyrocket, shippers and freight forwarders are accusing carriers of breaching short- and long-term contracts to “charge whatever they want”.
In a joint letter to the Competition Directorate of the European Commission (EC), the European Freight Forwarders Association (CLECAT) and European Shippers’ Council (ESC) have protested about the “damage” the carriers’ behaviour is “causing to trade growth at a time of economic recession”.
According to the letter, the complaints relate to “violation of existing contracts, the establishment of unreasonable conditions concerning the acceptance of bookings and unilaterally setting rates far in excess of those agreed in contracts”.