23.8.85 / 
Official Journal of the European Communities No C 212/9 
Article 2 
1. The criterion of ships flying the flag of a Member 
State may only be added to the three criteria referred to 
in Article 1 if the Member State concerned: 
— allows shipping lines of other Member States which 
take advantage of the right of establishment or, 
subject to reciprocal treatment, shipping lines of 
other OECD countries which are established in the 
Member State concerned, to enter ships in the 
national register, or 
— otherwise secures equal treatment, including 
recognition as a national shipping line, for shipping 
lines of other Member States, which take advantage 
of the right of establishment or, subject to reciprocal 
treatment, shipping lines of other OECD countries 
The following Articles are substituted for Articles 1 to 8 
in the text originally submitted on 16 October 1981. 
SECTION I 
Article 1 
Subject matter and scope of the Regulation 
1. This Regulation lays down detailed rules for the 
application of Articles 85 and 86 of the Treaty to 
maritime transport services. 
2. It shall apply only to international maritime 
transport services from or to one or more Community 
ports, other than tramp vessel services. 
3. For the purposes of this Regulation: 
(a) Tramp vessel services means the transport of goods in 
bulk or in break-bulk in a vessel chartered to one or 
more shippers on the basis of a charter-party or a 
booking note, for non-regularly scheduled and/or 
non advertised sailings; 
(b) Liner conference means a group of two or more 
vessel-operating carriers which provides international 
liner services for the carriage of cargo on a particular 
route or routes within specified geographical limits 
and which, within the framework of an agreement or 
arrangement of whatever nature, jointly fix uniform 
or common freight rates and any other conditions 
for those services; which are established in the Member State 
concerned. 
2. The Commission shall certify whether reciprocal 
treatment exists for the purposes of this Article. 
Article 3 
Member States shall, after consulting the Commission, 
adopt the laws, regulations and administrative provisions 
necessary to comply with this Directive not later than 
1 July 1986. They shall inform the Commission and the 
other Member States of the measures taken. 
Article 4 
This Directive is addressed to the Member States. 
(c) Transport user means an undertaking or association 
of undertakings (shippers, consignees, forwarders, 
etc.) which has entered into, or which demonstrates 
an intention to enter into, a contractual or other 
arrangement with a conference or shipping line for 
the shipment of goods. 
Article 2 
Technical agreements 
1. The prohibition laid down in Article 85 (1) of the 
Treaty shall not apply to agreements, decisions and 
concerted practices whose object and effect is to achieve 
technical improvements or cooperation by means of: 
(a) the introduction or uniform application of standards 
or types in respect of vessels and other means of 
transport, equipment, supplies or fixed installations; 
(b) the exchange or pooling for the purpose of operating 
transport services, of vessels, space on vessels or slots 
and other means of transport, staff, equipment or 
fixed installations; 
(c) the organization and execution of successive or sup­
plementary maritime transport operations and the 
establishment and application of inclusive rates and 
conditions for such operations; 
(d) the coordination of transport timetables for 
connecting routes; 
(e) the consolidation of individual consignments; Amendments to the proposal for a Council Regulation laying down detailed rules for the 
application of Articles 85 and 86 of the Treaty to maritime transport 
(85/C 212/06) 
No C 212/10 Official Journal of the European Comniunities 23. 8. 85 
(f) the establishment or application of uniform rules 
concerning the structure and the conditions 
governing the application of transport tariffs. 
2. The Commission shall, if necessary, submit to the 
Council proposals for the amendment of the list 
contained in paragraph 1. 
Article 3 
Exemption for agreements between carriers concerning 
the operation of scheduled maritime transport services 
Agreements, decisions and concerted practices of all or 
part of the members of a conference or of several 
conferences are hereby exempted from the prohibition in 
Article 85 (1) of the Treaty, subject to the condition 
imposed by Article 4, when they have one or more of the 
following objects: 
(a) the fixing of rates and conditions of carriage, and, as 
the case may be; 
(b) the coordination of shipping timetables, sailing dates 
or dates of calls; 
(c) the determination of the frequency of sailings or 
calls; 
(d) the coordination or allocation of sailings or calls 
among members of the conference; 
(e) the regulation of the carrying capacity offered by 
each member; 
(f) the allocation of cargo or revenue among members. 
Article 4 
Condition attaching to exemption 
The exemption provided for in Article 3 shall be granted 
subject to the condition that a conference shall not 
within the common market cause detriment to certain 
ports, transport users or carriers by applying for the 
carriage of the same goods and in the area covered by 
the conference rates and conditions of carriage which 
differ according to the country of origin or destination 
or port of loading or discharge, if such an application 
cannot be justified economically. 
Article 5 
Obligations attaching to exemption 
The following obligations shall be attached to the 
exemption provided for in Article 3: 
1. Consultations 
There shall be consultations for the purpose of 
seeking solutions on issues of general principle 
between transport users on the one hand and 
conferences on the other concerning the rates, 
conditions and quality of scheduled maritime 
transport services. 
These consultations shall take place whenever 
requested by any of the abovementioned parties. 2. Fidelity arrangements 
Where a conference offers transport users the oppor­
tunity of entering into loyalty agreements entitling 
them to rebate or reduced rates of freight or as the 
case may be to commission: 
(a) Each conference shall offer transport users a 
system of immediate rebates or the choice 
between such a system and a system of deferred 
rebates. 
— Under the system of immediate rebates each 
of the parties shall be entitled to terminate the 
loyalty agreement at any time without penalty 
and subject to a period of notice of not more 
than six months. 
— Under the system of deferred rebates neither 
the loyalty period on the basis of which the 
rebate is calculated nor the subsequent loyalty 
period required before payement of the rebate 
may exceed six months. 
(b) In no event shall the spread between immediate 
rebates and deferred rebates be more than 3 % of 
the freight rate. 
(c) A conference may not refuse to enter into a new 
loyalty agreement on the ground that a transport 
user has previously terminated such an agreement, 
unless the transport user concerned has not paid 
penalties due to breach of previous agreement. 
(d) The loyalty agreement shall apply only to 
shipments of goods covered by the conference 
tariff in respect of which the transport user is 
entitled or able to determine the carrier under the 
contract for the purchase, sale or transfer of the 
goods. 
(e) A conference shall not prohibit the transport users 
from using modes of transport other than sea 
transport nor may it deprive them of the right to 
choose the port of loading or of discharge and 
the carrier from among the ports served by it and 
the operators, who are members of the 
conference. 
(f) The conference shall, after having consulted the 
transport users concerned, set out: 
(i) a list of cargo and any portion of cargo 
agreed with transport users which is 
specifically excluded from the scope of the 
loyalty arrangement; 
(ii) a list of circumstances in which transport 
users are released from their obligation of 
loyalty; these shall include: 
— circumstances in which consignments are 
dispatched from or to a port in the area 
covered by the conference but not 
advertised and where the request for a 
waiver can be justified, and 
— those in which waiting time at a port 
exceeds a period to be determined for 
23.8.85 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 212/11 
each port and for each commodity or class 
of commodities following consultation of 
the transport users directly concerned with 
the proper servicing of the port. 
The conference shall, however, be informed, in 
advance, by the transport user, within a specified 
period, of his intention to dispatch the 
consignment from a port not advertised by the 
conference or to make use of a non-conference 
vessel at a port served by the conference as soon 
as he has been able to establish from the published 
schedule of sailings that the maximum waiting 
period will be exceeded. 
(g) The conference shall nevertheless be entitled to 
impose penalties on a transport user in respect of 
any improper use made of the provisions of (d) to 
(f) above with a view to evading his obligation of 
loyalty. The penalties shall not exceed two-thirds 
of the freight charge on the particular shipment, 
computed at the rate provided under the 
agreement. 
3. Services not covered by the freight charges 
Transport users shall be entitled to approach the 
undertakings of their choice in respect of inland 
transport operations and quayside services not 
covered by the freight charge or charges on which the 
shipping line and the transport user have agreed. 
4. Availability of tariffs 
Tariffs, related conditions, regulations and any 
amendments thereto shall at all times be made 
available on request to transport users at reasonable 
cost, or they shall be available for examination at 
offices of shipping lines and their agents. They shall 
set out all the conditions concerning loading and 
discharge, the exact extent of the services covered by 
the freight charge in proportion to the sea transport 
and the land transport or by any other charge levied 
by the shipping line and customary practice in such 
matters. 
5. Notification of awards and recommendations 
Awards given at arbitration and recommendations 
made by conciliators that are accepted by the parties 
shall be notified forthwith to the Commission when 
they resolve disputes relating to the practices of 
conferences referred to in Article 4 and in points 2 
and 3 above. 
Article 6 
Exemption for agreements between transport users and 
conferences concerning the use of scheduled maritime 
transport services 
Agreements, decisions and concerted practices between 
transport users on the one hand and conferences on the 
other concerning rates, conditions and quality of liner 
services are hereby exempted from the prohibition laid 
down in Article 85 (1) of the Treaty. Article 7 
Monitoring of exempted agreements 
1. Breach of an obligation 
Where the persons concerned are in breach of an 
obligation which, pursuant to Article 5, attaches to 
the exemption provided for in Article 3, the 
Commission may, in order to put an end to such 
breach and under the conditions laid down in Section 
II: 
— address recommendations to the persons 
concerned; 
— in the event of failure by such persons to observe 
those recommendations and depending upon the 
gravity of the breach concerned, adopt a decision 
that either prohibits them from carrying out or 
requires them to perform specific acts or, while 
withdrawing the benefit of the block exemption 
which they enjoyed, grants them an individual 
exemption according to Article 10 (4) or 
withdraws the benefit of the block exemption 
which they enjoyed. 
2. Effects incompatible with Article 85 (3) 
(a) Where owing to special circumstances as 
described below, agreements, decisions and 
concerted practices which qualify for the 
exemption provided for in Articles 3 and 6 have 
nevertheless effects which are incompatible with 
the conditions laid down in Article 85 (3) of the 
Treaty, the Commission, on receipt of a 
complaint or on its own initiative, under the 
conditions laid down in Section II and depending 
upon the gravity of the situation, takes the 
measures described in (c) below. 
(b) Special circumstances are created by: 
(i) Acts of third countries which 
— prevent the operation of outsiders in a 
trade, 
— impose unfair tariffs on conference 
members, 
— impose arrangements which otherwise 
impede technical or economic progress 
(cargo sharing, limitations on types of 
ships); 
(ii) Acts of conferences or a change of market 
conditions in a given trade which result in 
the absence of actual and potential 
competition; 
(iii) Acts of conferences which may prevent 
technical or economic progress or consumer 
participation in the benefits. 
(c) (i) If, as a result of special circumstances as set 
out in (b), there are effects other than those 
foreseen in (ii) the Commission may take any 
of the measures described in paragraph 1; 
(ii) If, however, the special circumstances result 
in the elimination of competition contrary to 
No C 212/12 Official Journal of the European Communities 23. 8. 85 
Article 85 (3) (b) of the Treaty the 
Commission shall withdraw the benefit of the 
block exemption and shall, at the same time, 
rule on whether and, if so, under what 
additional conditions and obligations an 
individual exemption should be granted to 
the relevant Conference agreement; 
If competition is or may be eliminated as a 
result of action by a third country, the 
Commission shall enter into consultations 
with the competent authorities of the third 
country concerned, followed if necessary by 
negotiations under directives to be given by 
the Council, in order to remedy the situation. 
Article 8 
Conflicts of international law 
1. Where the application of this Regulation to certain 
restrictive practices or clauses is liable to enter into 
conflict with the provisions laid down by law, regulation 
or administrative action of certain third countries which 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES: 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community, and in particular Article 84 (2) 
thereof, 
Having regard to the draft Regulation submitted by the 
Commission, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European Par­
liament, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and 
Social Committee, 
Whereas there is reason to believe, inter alia, on the basis 
of the information system referred to in Council 
Decision 78/774/EEC ('), that the competitive parti­
cipation of the fleets of Member States in international 
liner shipping is adversely affected by certain unfair 
practices of shipping lines of third countries; would compromise important Community trading and 
shipping interests, the Commission shall, at the earliest 
opportunity, undertake with the competent authorities of 
the third countries concerned, consultations aimed at 
reconciling as far as possible the abovementioned 
interest with the respect of Community law. 
2. Where the number or the nature of such consul­
tations give rise to the need for the Commission to 
negotiate an arrangement with the competent authorities 
of the third country concerned as respects the exercise of 
their powers the Commission shall take the appropriate 
measures. 
3. Where it appears that an amendment to the powers 
of the competent authorities of the third country or to 
this Regulation is desirable, the Commission shall ask the 
Council for authority to negotiate in accordance with 
directives which it shall establish. Amendments to this 
Regulation shall be confined to the conditions and 
obligations under which an exemption is given to liner 
conferences and shall ensure that a proper balance is 
maintained between the shipping and shipowning 
interests of the Community. 
Whereas such practices consist of continuous charging of 
freight rates for the transport of certain selected 
commodities which are lower than the lowest freight 
charged for the same commodities by an established and 
representative non-conference shipowner; 
Whereas such pricing practices are made possible by 
non-commercial advantages enjoyed by the lines 
concerned, either because they are government owned or 
controlled, or because they have preferential access to 
cargo through national legislation or because they 
operate ships flying the flag of countries which have not 
ratified and do not implement certain international safety 
conventions; 
Whereas the Community should be able to take 
redressive action against such pricing practices; 
Whereas there are no internationally-agreed rules as to 
what constitutes an unfair price in the maritime transport 
field; Draft Council Regulation on unfair pricing practices in maritime transport 
(85/C 212/07) 
OOJ No 258, 21.9. 1978, p. 35. Whereas appropriate factors relevant for the determi­
nation of injury should be set out;