Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: JFTC fines ocean shipping companies for conspiring to fix freight rates, (Mar 19, 2014)

By Jeffrey May, J.D.

The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) announced yesterday that it has fined Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd., Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics, AS, and Nissan Motor Car Carrier Co., Ltd. for conspiring to fix freight rates for international ocean shipping services for automobiles. The JFTC also has issued cease and desist orders requiring the companies to refrain from the challenged conduct.

The conspiracy was alleged to have taken place from around January 2008 until September 2012. It purportedly impacted shipping service rates for automobiles transported by roll-on, roll-off vessels, such as car carriers and car and truck carriers, on ocean routes to North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Oceania.

The fines against the companies total more than 22.7 billion yen (approximately U.S. $221.7 million). Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK LINE) was fined 13,101,070,000 yen; Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (“K” LINE) was fined 5,698,390,000 yen; Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics, AS (WWL) was fined 3,495,710,000 yen; and Nissan Motor Car Carrier Co., Ltd. (NMCC) was fined 423,310,000 yen. In addition to the fines, the companies are bound by the cease and desist orders.

The JFTC also identified Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) as a cartelist; however, MOL was granted leniency by the agency. MOL issued a statement, saying that it had already ceased the questioned conduct before the competition authority conducted on-site investigations of the shipping companies in 2012.

U.S. ocean shipping service investigation. Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division announced its first charge in an ongoing investigation into anticompetitive conduct involving international ocean shipping services for roll-on, roll-off cargo, such as cars and trucks. A Chilean shipping company, Compañía Sud Americana de Vapores S.A., has agreed to plead guilty and to pay an $8.9 million fine for its involvement in a decade-long conspiracy to fix prices, allocate customers, and rig bids for such services.

Putative class action complaints also have been filed in the United States, alleging a conspiracy to fix prices involving shipping companies that provide vehicle carrier services. These complaints allege that investigations of the vehicle carrier industry are being conducted by Canadian and European competition authorities, in addition to the U.S. Department of Justice and the JFTC.

Companies: Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha; Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd.; Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics, AS; Nissan Motor Car Carrier Co., Ltd.; Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd.; Compañía Sud Americana de Vapores S.A.

News: Antitrust