International liner cargo shipping (2005)

• Preliminaries
  • Cover, Copyright, Terms of reference, Contents, Abbreviations and explanations, Glossary, Key points, Overview, Findings, Recommendations
• 1 Introduction
• 2 The market for liner shipping
  • 2.1 Global trends in liner shipping
  • 2.2 The Australian liner shipping market
  • 2.3 Agreements between shipping lines
  • 2.4 The significance of different types of agreements on Australian trade routes
• 3 Economics of international liner shipping
  • 3.1 Characteristics of supply and demand
  • 3.2 Stability and competition in the market for liner shipping
  • 3.3 Comparisons with other industries
• 4 Competition in the market for liner shipping
  • 4.1 Rationale for cooperation between shipping lines
  • 4.2 Limits to competition in the market for liner shipping
• 5 Key elements of Part X of the TPA
  • 5.1 Objectives of Part X of the TPA
  • 5.2 The exemptions from trade practices provisions provided under Part X
  • 5.3 Activities covered by Part X
  • 5.4 Agreements covered by Part X exemptions
  • 5.5 Obligations of ocean carriers under the Act
  • 5.6 Designated shipper bodies
  • 5.7 Review and enforcement
• 6 International regulation of liner cargo shipping
  • 6.1 Outline of current regulations in major trading partners
  • 6.2 Differences between Australian and major international conference regulations
  • 6.3 Recent trend towards greater competition
  • 6.4 Recent regulatory reviews
• 7 Evaluation of Part X
  • 7.1 Analytical framework
  • 7.2 Objectives of Part X legislation
  • 7.3 Nature of Part X restriction on competition
  • 7.4 Effects of Part X restriction on competition
  • 7.5 Balance of benefits and costs
• 8 Alternatives to Part X
  • 8.1 Authorisation
  • 8.2 Notification
  • 8.3 Alternatives under Part VII for shipper bodies
  • 8.4 Major concerns about alternatives
  • 8.5 Do the alternatives achieve the rationale of Part X?
  • 8.6 Transitional arrangements
  • 8.7 International implications of preferred recommendation
• 9 Options for modifying Part X
  • 9.1 Differentiating between agreements
  • 9.2 Promoting competition
  • 9.3 Other modifications to Part X
  • 9.4 Australia’s WTO and Free Trade Agreement obligations
• 10 Review and enforcement under Part X
  • 10.1 Participants comments
  • 10.2 Initiating a review and the role of ‘exceptional circumstances’
  • 10.3 Reversing the onus of proof
  • 10.4 Ministerial discretion
  • 10.5 The role of undertakings
  • 10.6 Alternative review process suggested by Shipping Australia Limited
  • 10.7 Recommendations to improve the review and enforcement process

APPENDIXES

• A Conduct of the Inquiry
  • A.1 Introduction
  • A.2 List of submissions
  • A.3 Visits
  • A.4 Public hearings
• B Participants' views
• C Shipping data
  • C.1 Australia’s liner cargo trade
  • C.2 Capacity data for members of Part X agreements and independents
• D Economic issues
  • D.1 Costs in liner shipping
  • D.2 The economics of cart
  • D.3 Core theory and the market
  • D.4 The economics of cartel behaviour
  • D.5 Conferences and operational efficiency
• E Registration checklist under Part X
• F Modifying Part X: identifying agreements by market share
• G Other modifications to Part X
  • G.1 All-in freight rates and the treatment of surcharges
  • G.2 Australian dollar freight rates
  • G.3 Making agreements between conferences and shipper bodies binding
  • G.4 A code of practice for negotiations
  • G.5 Requiring carriers to provide greater justification of price increases
  • G.6 Shipper organisation involvement in the negotiation of stevedoring contracts
  • G.7 Shipper ‘veto’ over the registration of agreements
  • G.8 Funding shipper bodies
• References