European Liner Affairs Association to fold up in July

MUMBAI: European Liner Affairs Association (ELAA ) is to be shut down and its responsibilities transferred to the World Shipping Council in July, according to reports.

The decision to close the Brussels- headquartered association was taken at a meeting of ELAA member lines in Taipei earlier last week.

The future of ELAA subsidiary Container Trades Statistics, which publishes cargo volume and price data, will be settled later in the year. Its remit is likely to be extended to cover the non-European trades such as the Pacific.

Container shipping bosses, who set up the ELAA in 2003 to represent industry interests in Brussels during the review of the conference system and liner companies' antitrust immunity, have been planning the closure for several months.