Congress is considering legislation that would force carriers to choose between membership in rate discussions and ocean carrier alliances, while also giving maritime regulators more power to protect domestic third-party service providers from potential alliance collusion.
Legislators’ recent interest in rewriting the Shipping Act of 1984, which was last amended in 1998, has been sparked by third-party
suppliers’ fears of alliances having too much power, and antitrust investigators’ serving of subpoenas to major carriers at a March 15 Box Club meeting. The Wall Street Journal has cited unidentified sources saying the raid was centered on third-party contracting.