The European Liner Affairs Association (ELAA) has expressed a positive attitude to the European Commission's (EC) draft guidelines on how the liner industry will be structured in the post-conference world after October 2008.

The EC announced a round of public consultations before its final implementation next year. It also appeared to provide elasticity in its latest draft when it said that traditional cartel practices might be justified "if they have countervailing efficiencies fulfilling . . . conditions . . . the Treaty", said the EC statement.

Companies must themselves assess whether their agreements with competitors, suppliers or distributors comply with EU competition rules, said the EC statement.

"Any agreement between competitors that results in the fixing of prices requires careful consideration under the competition rules. Agreements on prices or sharing of markets between competitors are severe restrictions of competition explicitly prohibited," the EC communique continued.

Pending further ELAA analysis of the document, the shipping line association said it was at least satisfied that the EC had understood its concerns.

"Since December 2005, when the abolition of Regulation 4056, which had exempted shipping lines from EU competition laws, the ELAA has been lobbying the Directorate General for Competition for clear and common-sense guidelines," said the ELAA statement.

Said ELAA executive director Chris Bourne: "We have not yet had time for a detailed analysis, but my initial take on the document is that DG Comp [director general of competition] has understood our proposals and that these draft guidelines reflect the needs of the modern liner industry. My response therefore is positive, and we look forward to a continuing dialogue with the commission that will lead to useful guidelines before October 2008."

Based in Brussels, ELAA was established in May 2003 to represent the liner shipping companies in the EC's review process of Regulation 4056/86.

The EC last week launched public consultations on the draft guidelines, an interim step in the preparation of final rules to be enacted next year. The draft guidelines follow the repeal of the exemption for liner shipping conferences from the full scope of the competition implementing rules to cabotage and tramp shipping services decided by the Competitiveness Council of 2006.