Avis juridique important. Having regard to the Commission's decision of 19 April to initiate proceedings in this case,. The Commission imposes fines for the infringement. Any agreement resulting from such discussions would constitute an infringement of Article 81 of the EC Treaty. The minutes do not show that a specific agreement was recorded other than the agreement not to discount, and the present Decision makes no finding of an infringement in relation to the parties' discussions about the tariff currency, and about charges and surcharges.
There were initially 20 members: 14 were members of the Far Eastern Freight Conference FEFC whilst six were independent shipping lines operating in the same trades see below.
The Commission was in the East Asia Trades Agreement proceedings, see recitals 19, 20 and 21 informed on 23 July that the East Asiatic Company and EACBen Container Line Ltd no longer operate vessels on the trades in question, although for a while the vessels they had operated were maintained in use on the same trades by Maersk.
The FEFC does not itself offer any shipping service or enter into contracts with shippers or other customers. It regulates a number of conditions, including tariffs, on the basis of which its member lines offer their services. The FEFC is used by its member lines as a central body for publishing their decisions and communicating with other relevant organisations, including shippers' councils. This Decision deals only with the extension to the independent lines of the FEFC lines' decision, in relation to charges and surcharges, not to grant discounts.
To the extent that the FEFC's charges and surcharges relate to maritime transport services, they fall within the block exemption for liner conferences. This Decision does not address the question whether agreements fixing the amount of charges and surcharges relating to port handling services fall within the scope of the block exemption.
