EU fines Asian shippers

EU fines Asian shippers

BRUSSELS (Reuter): The European Commission said yesterday it had banned an inland transport price-fixing agreement by the Far Eastern Freight Conference (FEFC) of shipping companies operating Europe-Asia container transport.

The Commission fined the following companies a symbolic 10,000 European currency units (US$12,000) each: Denmark's AP Moller- Maersk Line, Britain's P&O Containers Limited and Orient Overseas Containers, Japan's Nippon Yusen Kaisha, Singapore's Neptune Orient lines, Companie Generale Maritime, Hapag-Lloyd Aktiengesellschaft, Croatia Line, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd, Lloyd Triestino di Navigatizione SpA, Malaysian International Shipping, Mitsui OSK Lines, and Nedlloyd Lijnen.

The Commission said the FEFC violated EU competition rules.