THE SHIPPING CONFERENCES EXEMPTION ACT

The Shipping Conferences Exemption Act (SCEA) has been amended mainly to keep Canada’s conference legislation in balance with the legislation of its major trading partners.

Transport Canada initiated a review of the Act in January 1999 in response to reviews and legislative changes to liner shipping conference legislation in the United States, Europe and Australia. Stakeholders across Canada were invited to provide comments on the Act and were subsequently asked to respond to a consultation paper containing a number of options for amending the Act. As a result of the consultation process, a number of amendments were proposed for adoption.

Amendments to this legislation, which in came into force on January 30, 2001, are:

• Shipping conferences are permitted to use electronic means to file conference documents (other than tariffs) with the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA).
• Filing of conference tariffs with the CTA is abolished.
• Shipping conferences will be required to provide electronic access to the public to their tariff information and other publicly accessible conference documents.
• The period by which an individual conference member must notify its other conference members of its intention to take independent action on rates and other service items will be reduced to five days from 15. Likewise, the publication requirement of such action will be reduced from 15 days to five. In both cases this will be established in the Act itself rather than by the Governor-in-Council as the Act currently provides.
• Individual conference members will be able to negotiate confidential service contracts on terms and conditions independent from those established by the conference.
• Individual conference members will not be obligated to provide notice to the other conference members or divulge any details of that service contract.
• The fine for non-compliance with the Act will be raised from $1,000 per day to $10,000 per day.

September 2005