2001年-世界发展银行全球_Trade_in_International_Maritime_Services___How_Much_Does_Policy_Matter__38页_1mb

Trade in International Maritime Services: How Much Does Policy Matter?

Core Content

This working paper by Carsten Fink, Aaditya Mattoo, and Ileana Cristina Neagu examines the role of policy and private anti-competitive practices in determining maritime transport costs. The authors argue that these costs significantly impact international trade, often more than customs duties, and that both public and private factors contribute to their persistence despite technological advancements.

Main Viewpoints

• Maritime transport costs are a major barrier to international trade, influencing trade patterns, production, and income distribution.
• Technology, particularly containerization, has reduced unit costs, but overall maritime transport costs have not declined significantly.
• Public policy restrictions such as cargo reservation schemes and monopolies on port and auxiliary services increase transport costs.
• Private anti-competitive practices, especially rate-fixing by maritime conferences, have a stronger impact on prices than public policies.
• Trade liberalization could reduce average liner transport prices by 9%, with potential cost savings of $850 million for U.S. imports.
• Breaking up private carrier agreements could lead to a 25% reduction in prices and $2 billion in cost savings for U.S. imports.
• Policy implications suggest the need for stronger international disciplines on anti-competitive business practices, particularly in the maritime sector.

Key Information

Impact of Policies and Practices

• Cargo reservation schemes (e.g., the 40-40-20 rule) were intended to support developing countries but are now largely ineffective.
• Port service restrictions significantly raise prices, as they limit competition and can lead to inefficiencies and higher costs for liner services.
• Private anti-competitive practices, especially collusive agreements like maritime conferences, are a major cause of high transport costs.

Data and Methodology

• The study uses new data on U.S. waterborne transport charges, broken down by liner, bulk, and tanker services.
• A new database from the World Bank's Trade in Services Project provides comprehensive information on both public policies and private rate-fixing arrangements.
• The authors develop an econometric model to estimate the impact of various factors on transport prices, including distance, technology, economies of scale, and policy indicators.

Policy Recommendations

• The current round of WTO negotiations under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) should focus on strengthening competition rules.
• Two key obligations are proposed:
  1. End the exemption of maritime conferences from national antitrust laws.
  2. Allow foreign consumers to challenge anti-competitive practices in the national courts of countries where the shipping lines are owned or controlled.
• These rules are necessary to address inadequate enforcement of competition laws in small states and to prevent inferior national responses to anti-competitive behavior.

Policy Implications

• The failure of post-Uruguay Round negotiations on maritime transport has led to a loss of political momentum for reform.
• Collusive practices by shipping conferences, such as price-fixing and discriminatory rate-setting, have been exempted from antitrust laws in many countries, including the U.S. and EU.
• Recent regulatory changes, such as the U.S. Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA) of 1998, have weakened the legal privileges of conferences, but collusive behavior still persists.
• The authors highlight the need for international cooperation to address these issues, as national competition policies alone are insufficient.

Conclusion

The study concludes that both public and private restrictions are important in keeping maritime transport costs high, but private anti-competitive practices have a greater impact. Therefore, international disciplines on these practices are necessary to achieve meaningful trade liberalization and maximize the benefits of reducing transport costs.