NO ACTION IMMINENT ON BILL TO REPEAL CARRIERSÆ ANTITRUST IMMUNITY
House Judiciary Committee hearings on legislation to repeal ocean carriers' antitrust immunity privileges ended yesterday with no indication that Congress will move quickly on the bill.
House Judiciary Committee chairman Henry Hyde, R-Ill., sponsor of the bill, did not indicate that his committee would meet soon to mark up the legislation, a necessary step before sending bills to the House floor.
A political source close to the situation said the bill's supporters want to see how much Congressional support the legislation gathers. So far, Hyde is the only sponsor of the bill.
Hyde's bill is supported by smaller shippers, ocean transportation intermediaries, non-vessel-operating common carriers, agricultural shippers, the Justice Department and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
Support from the Teamsters was a new twist to the familiar arguments echoed during the hearing. Hyde left the hearing room before the hearing concluded to attend an outdoor rally held by the Teamsters to draw attention to the more than 20,000 truck drivers who haul intermodal containers in the nation's ports.
The Teamsters claim that rates set in confidential service contracts with between carriers and shippers “exclusively” benefit carriers, to the detriment of port drivers, said George W. Cashman, the Teamsters' director, port division.
The hearing, as expected, produced some movement to compromise legislation. The Coalition for Fair Play in Ocean Shipping, which has lobbied for the repeal ocean carriers’ antitrust immunity, said it will support legislation that continues the antitrust exemption for cost saving and efficiency-enhancing agreements, such as space charter, vessel sharing and cooperative working agreements. Under such an approach, the shipping industry would lose its antitrust exemption for collective rate-making and for the ability to discuss rates collectively under discussion agreements, which is allowed under the Ocean Shipping Reform Act.
Opponents of the Hyde bill include the Federal Maritime Commission; Maersk Sealand; APL; Crowley Maritime Corp.; Farrell Lines; the American Association of Port Authorities; the AFL-CIO Maritime Trades Department; the International Longshore & Warehouse Union; the International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots; the National Maritime Union; the Sailors’ Union of the Pacific; and the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association.
Supporters of antitrust immunity argue that OSRA has been a success, as shown by the thousands of service contracts signed since the law took effect, the entry of new carriers in the marketplace, and the increasing shares of trade enjoyed by ocean transportation intermediaries and NVOs.