Under Section 36 of the Competition Act, the Minister for Trade and Industry may make an order, at CCS’ recommendation, to exempt a particular category of agreements from the section 34 prohibition on anti-competitive agreements, decisions and practices. As set out in section 41 of the Act, the agreements must contribute to:

• The improvement of production or distribution, or
• The promotion of technical or economic progress,
  
  while not:
  
• imposing on the undertakings concerned restrictions which are not indispensable to the attainment of those objectives, or
• affording the undertakings concerned the possibility of eliminating competition in respect of a substantial part of the goods or services in question.

Currently there is one such Block Exemption Order, namely for Liner Shipping Agreements, that is in force until 31 December 2015.

Competition (Block Exemption for Liner Shipping Agreements) Order 2006 and Competition (Block Exemption for Liner Shipping Agreements) (Amendment) Order 2010

On 14 July 2006, the Minister issued the Competition (Block Exemption for Liner Shipping Agreements) Order 2006, which exempted a category of liner shipping agreements (“Agreements”) from the section 34 prohibition of the Competition Act until 31 December 2010. 

Prior to the expiry of the Competition (Block Exemption for Liner Shipping Agreements) Order 2006, a review was undertaken by CCS that included a public consultation exercise. A recommendation was made to the Minister for a five year extension.  On 16 December 2010, the Minister announced that the Competition (Block Exemption for Liner Shipping Agreements) Order 2006 would be extended for an additional five years, until 31 December 2015. 

Under paragraph 5(2)(b) of the Block Exemption Order, parties to Agreements with an aggregate market share of above 50% are required to do the following:

• file their Agreements and any variation or amendment there to with CCS, in addition to the fulfilment of other conditions and obligations in the Block Exemption Order, to qualify for the block exemption from the section 34 prohibition
• make available upon request to CCS, documents and details relating to (i) any tariff; (ii) the structure and service level of the liner shipping services; and (iii) other aspects of the liner shipping services, under the Agreement relevant to the market
• make available to transport users information concerning (i) any tariff; and (ii) the structure and service level of the liner shipping services, under the agreement relevant to the market as CCS may specify.

Click the links below for further information on the Block Exemption Order for Liner Shipping Agreements, including on how to file an agreement with CCS:

1. Competition (Block Exemption For Liner Shipping Agreements) Order 2006
2. Competition (Block Exemption for Liner Shipping Agreements) (Amendment) Order 2010
3. Explanatory note on the Block Exemption For Liner Shipping Agreements
4. Filing an Agreement under the Block Exemption Order for Liner Shipping Agreements
5. Making Information Available and Notification to Transport Users  
6. List of Agreements Filed with CCS