HYDE LIKELY TO REVIEW CARRIERS’ ANTITRUST IMMUNITY IN 2000
The House Judiciary Committee is expected to scrutinize ocean carriers’
antitrust immunity again next year.
Carlos Rodriguez, a Washington attorney who is taking a leading role in the
antitrust issue, said the pending sale of Sea-Land’s international
shipping operations to Denmark’s Maersk Line has helped to renew interest in carriers
antitrust immunity.
The issue will also be the focal point of a meeting to be held in Oct.
25 in Chicago, where FMC commissioner Del Won and House Judiciary Committee chairman Henry
Hyde will be featured speakers. Both have voiced concerns over continuing carriers’
antitrust immunity, especially for rate-setting conferences and the voluntary rate
guidelines set by discussion agreements.