The Transpacific Stabilisation Agreement (TSA), the 11-carrier group that controls about half of the containerised trade across the Pacific, expanded its executive this week to better equip its members for the challenges that lie ahead - particularly a political assault on the anti-trust exemptions that shipping conferences enjoy in both the United Sates and Europe.
Veteran executive director Al Pierce, who guided the group for seven years, was replaced by an executive committee comprising the chief executives of four of the Asian member carriers.
The TSA made perfunctory noises about needing 'new energy' to meet the needs of customers but the truth is the container shipping industry in general needs stronger leadership if it is to continue to resist efforts to make it subject to the same market forces as other industries.
The European Union last month decided to repeal the shipping lines' exemption from anti-trust laws that allows bodies such as the TSA to collectively manage capacity, set surcharges and fix transport prices.
The US Congress looks set to follow suit.
While there is still some debate about whether carriers actually use their legislated immunity to fix the price of moving goods on the world's biggest trade lanes, Fabrizia Benini, the European Commission's director general for competition, left little doubt as to where she stands.
