| Many countries attach importance to the shipping consortia for their ability to achieve rational allocation of resources and increase economies of scale,but their development has also brought certain problems.Although the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on International Ocean Shipping do not explicitly mention the "exemption" for shipping consortia,the fact that the Regulations require the reporting of operational agreements indicates that such monopolistic agreements should in principle be presumed to be legal,unless further investigation reveals that they cause harm to fair competition,which is essentially the anti-monopoly exemption rule for international liner shipping.On this premise,certain regulatory measures have been taken.Define the concept of a shipping consortia,and define what regulation is and what regulation of shipping consortia is,to explore the necessity of regulation of shipping consortia.Classifying shipping consortia lays the foundation for the study of the regulatory scope of shipping consortia in the following text.Sorting out why regulation by the Regulations on International Ocean Shipping is necessary despite the existence of the Anti-monopoly Law of the People’s Republic of China,to clarify the relationship between anti-monopoly regulation and industry regulation of shipping consortia,and to lay the foundation for the choice of the mode of regulation of shipping consortia below.The current regulation of shipping consortia under the Regulations on International Ocean Shipping adopts the mode of joint regulation by the competent department of the Ministry of Transport and the anti-monopoly enforcement agency,and the scope of regulation is the operational agreement,but the content of the operational agreement is unclear,and whether this operational agreement includes the close association agreement needs to be further clarified.In terms of the regulation system of shipping consortia,China adopts a systematic regulatory approach,including a pre filing system,an in process investigation system,and post punishment measures.However,the pre-regulation of such operational agreements,which are inherently monopolistic in nature,should at least exclude those agreements that are clearly in breach of fair competition.In the process of regulation,an investigation system has been established,but there is a lack of corresponding dynamic regulatory measures.The reasons for these problems are diverse,on the one hand due to unclear relevant laws and regulations,and on the other hand due to certain deficiencies in industry regulation and weak regulatory power.Other countries have also adopted different models for the regulation of shipping consortia.The United States adopts the industry regulation model,and the Federal Maritime Commission is responsible for the regulation of shipping consortia,which adopts the systematic regulation approach of prior approval,continuous dynamic regulation in the event,and punishment afterwards,and supervises the whole operation process of the shipping consortia.The EU adopts a unified regulatory model in which the shipping consortia are regulated by the anti-monopoly enforcement agency,which adopts a purely post regulatory approach and only needs to regulate them when a violation of fair competition occurs,which is related to the development of EU integration.South Korea adopts a compromise model,with the industry regulatory body,the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries,responsible for pre-regulation,and the anti monopoly law enforcement agency fully responsible for any post fair competition violations.Various regulatory models and methods have their advantages and disadvantages,and they are all paths chosen by countries based on their own circumstances,which has certain reference significance for China’s regulation.In response to the current problems of shipping consortia,drawing on the regulatory experience of foreign countries,and based on the actual situation in China,propose improvement suggestions for the regulation of shipping consortia under the Regulations on International Ocean Shipping.Firstly,although the Regulations on International Ocean Shipping essentially grant exemptions to shipping consortia,there is no clear word for "exemption" that can be clearly defined in the regulations.Secondly,the scope of regulation over shipping consortia is clarified,excluding regulation over tight shipping consortia.Finally,the regulatory system for shipping consortia is improved,and behaviors that clearly violate fair competition are excluded from the prior regulatory process,supplement dynamic regulatory measures to maximize the economies of scale of shipping consortia and promote the development of the shipping industry. |
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