Italy fines major lines' in-house agents US$5.3 million for price fixing
2012 04 06
Details
ITALIAN antitrust authorities have fined 15 container shipping line's in-house shipping agents and two trading firms US$5.3 million for price fixing at Genoa from February 2004 to December 2009.
The shipping agents were accused of undertaking secret activities that fix prices for shipping services, including issuing bills of lading for exports and delivery orders for imports, according to the Italian authority AGCM, which held that the pricing-fixing exerted "a significant impact on the market".
Maersk Italia was not fined for joining the cartel because it informed on the rest as did Hapag-Lloyd Italy to a lesser extent, which got its fine halved to $322,000.
Marseilles' CMA CGM was fined with the largest penalty of $1.18 million followed by China's Cosco at $965,000 and Japan's "K" Line at $575,000.
Other participants, which were each fined $108,000, included Singapore's APL, Taiwan's Yang Ming, Israel's Zim, and the two trade associations, Assagenti and Spediporto.
The exposure of the cartel can be used as a reference to look into the transactions in other Italian ports, including La Spezia and the container transshipment hub Gioia Tauro, said the authorities.
The magazine SEA has been published since 1935 International business magazine JŪRA MOPE SEA has been published since 1999 The first magazine in Eurasia in the four languages: English, Chinese, Russian and Lithuanian
Address:
International business magazine JŪRA MOPE SEA Minijos str. 93, LT-93234 Klaipeda, Lithuania Phone/Fax: +370 46 365753 E-mail: news@jura.lt www.jura.lt
Publisher:
Ltd. Juru informacijos centras
The magazine JŪRA has been published since 1935. International business magazine JŪRA MOPE SEA has been published since 1999.