The impact of US regularory practices on the productivity of ocean liner services?

This United States stands alone amongst the nations of the world in its attempt to unilaterally regulate transnational ocean linear services. The major reason for current US regularity policies with regard to scheduled ocean transportation lies in its fundamental distruct of any form of co-operation amongst competitors as demonstrated by its history of antitrust legislation.

The linear industry, because of its unique technical and economic charectersitics has given rise to the establishment of ocean conferences—co ordinating sgreements between the operators of linear vessels. Whilst ocean conferences are permitted—even encouraged—by the their most diluted form, the so-called 'open conferences.

This Paper offers a critical review of Successive US regulatory practices in maritime transport. It is argued that these practices result in excess costs in US trades to the order of $1 billion annually, and that the linear industry's efficient functioning is seriously impaired by these rules-rules imposed by a government administration which fails to recognize that the linear industry's technical efficiency is of far greater importance than its market performance.