The European Commission has levied the equivalent of R1.73-billion in fines on 14 freight forwarding groups for conspiring to fix cargo surcharges, among other activities, from 2002 to 2007.
Meantime, the US Department of Justice has so far slapped 22 carriers and 21 airline executives with similar charges.
The EC cited four types of cartels that operated during the five-year period: the new export system cartel, the advanced manifest system cartel, the currency adjustment factor cartel and peak season surcharge cartel. According to a press release issued by the EC, the most collusion occurred on the Europe-to-U.S. and China/Hong Kong-Europe trade lanes.
Cartel participants included Kuehne & Nagel, Schenker Ltd., UTi Worldwide, UPS Supply Chain Solutions, Panalpina World Transport Ltd., and other global freight forwarding entities. DHL parent company Deutsche Post received full immunity from fines for its cooperation.
