ELAA to be wound-up and its responsibilities transferred to WSC

The ELAA was set up in 2003 to discuss with the European Union’s Directorate General for Competition, the replacement of the Liner Conference regime in the EU. This was completed with the publication of the Maritime Transport Guidelines in 2008. ELAA’s work was later extended to encompass the forthcoming revision of the Consortia Block Exemption Regulation.

As there are unlikely to be any new regulatory issues for the industry before the renewal of the EU’s guidelines due to take place in 2013, members have agreed that from July 1 2010, any regulatory issues will be handled by the World Shipping Council (WSC) which already has an office in Brussels. The effect of this is that all regulatory affairs worldwide for the liner industry will in future be handled by the WSC.

ELAA members have also considered the future of the ELAA database which was set up to report on European trades, following the abolition of the conference system in Europe and agreed that this system organised by ELAA subsidiary CTS should now be extended to non-European trades. This will be implemented over the next year and will result in the liner industry being supplied, for the first time, with an accurate volume and rate database.