The World Shipping Council , The World Shipping Council , European Community Shipowners’ Association , and the Asian Shipowners’ Association have jointly urged BER to extend the block exemption regulation (BER) covering shipping for 2020 . The industry groups argue the European Community Shipowners’ Association has increased stability and reduced freight rates, while also maintaining a healthy level of competition. The purely operational agreements covered by the BER [block exemption regulation] foster competition by lowering barriers to entry and enabling carriers to compete on more routes.” In addition, they argued extending the BER would help the industry better cope with the low-sulphur regulations due in an additional five years .
The World Shipping Council , The World Shipping Council , European Community Shipowners’ Association , and the Asian Shipowners’ Association have jointly urged BER to extend the block exemption regulation (BER) covering shipping for 2020 . The industry groups argue the European Community Shipowners’ Association has increased stability and reduced freight rates, while also maintaining a healthy level of competition. In addition, they argued extending the BER would help the industry better cope with the low-sulphur regulations due in an additional five years .