|
Activity - Common Shipping Principles
The Maritime Transport Committee first agreed on a set of common shipping principles in 1986, and at the time these were adopted as a Recommendation of the OECD Council.
While these principles are not legally enforceable, their status as a Recommendation of Council means that they carry considerable weight, and they have been closely reflected in the shipping policies of all OECD members since that time. A number of non-OECD countries have also taken them into consideration when reviewing their own shipping policies.
TheseCommon Principles of Shipping Policy were recently reviewed by the Maritime Transport Committee, and the new version was adopted as a Recommendation of the OECD Council in September 2000. The new Principles cover the following areas:
- Principle 1: The bases of Member countries' shipping policies
- Principle 2: Principles to follow for Normal Resolution of Problems
- Principle 3: Consultation among Member Countries
- Principle 4: Response to Pressures from non-Member Countries
- Principle 5: Availability of Countervailing Powers
- Principle 6: Use of Countervailing Powers
- Principle 7: Equitable Treatment in Shipping Agreements
- Principle 8: Freedom of Shipping in Bulk Trades
- Principle 9: Government Supervision of the Trade
- Principle 10: The Role of Government and Competition Policy in Liner Shipping
- Principle 11: The Relationship of Governments to the Activities of Shipping Lines and Conferences
- Principle 12: Avoidance and Resolution of Conflict in Matters of Competition Policy Concerning Shipping
- Principle 13: Non-Conference Shipping
- Principle 14: Maritime Auxiliary Services
- Principle 15: International Multimodal Transport
- Principle 16: Measures Relating to Safety, the Environment and Substandard Shipping
Activity - Promotion of Compatibility of Competition Policy Applied to Liner Shipping
During 1997 the Maritime Transport Committee carried out extensive work on establishing principles to govern the compatibility of competition policies to liner shipping.
The Committee concluded that effective implementation of competition rules to international liner shipping, including multimodal transport with a maritime leg, should contribute to the establishment and maintenance of efficient, unrestricted and competitive shipping services which facilitate international trade and benefit the economic interests of shipowners, shippers and ultimately the consumers. The Committee also noted that, in such a context, the promotion of compatibility of competition policy in international shipping, including multimodal transport with a maritime leg, is a desirable goal.
The Committee reviewed those conclusions at the beginning of 2002, and decided that there were still appropriate, and that they had been taken into account by OECD members when reviewing the competition laws to liner shipping in their respective jurisdictions.
The full text of the MTC's Conclusions on Compatibility of Competition Policies is available here.
Activity - Shipping Policy Developments
The Maritime Transport Committee generally holds meetings twice a year, and Delegates use the opportunities to bring each other up-to-date on recent developments in shipping policies. This provides policy makers with comparative information on shipping-related policy developments, and assessments of qualitative and quantitative developments in OECD Member and non-member countries. Between the meetings, Committee members exchange relevant information by electronic means.
This is also a standing item on the MTC's agenda.
|
