The NDRC fines ocean freight cartel

Nate Bush and Lining Shan [email protected] and [email protected] 

On December 28 2015, the Price Supervision and Anti-monopoly Bureau of China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced fines totaling Rmb407 million upon uncovering a complex cartel among eight foreign shipping companies involving automobile shipping in violation of the PRC Anti-monopoly Law (AML).  The NDRC released redacted versions of the official penalty notices on December 31, 2015.  The announcement, official decisions and a contemporaneous article in an NDRC publication, the China Reform News, reflect continued refinements of the NDRC's cartel enforcement practices.

Tackling complex fact patterns

The investigation targeted concerted efforts to stabilize and increase the prices for ocean shipment of “roll-on roll-off” (ro/ro) cargo such as automobiles, trucks and heavy machinery. Competition authorities in the U.S., EU and Japan launched investigations of the ro/ro cargo cartel with synchronized dawn raids in 2012, and the NDRC commenced its own probe in April 2014 (much as its prior investigations of international LCD and auto parts cartels followed foreign antitrust actions).