Brussels, 04/05/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Friday4 May, the European Commission launched a consultation exercise on the future of the guidelines on application of the EU competition rules to the shipping industry. The guidelines on the abuse of dominant position expire in September 2013 and the Commission explains in a working document that it feels that special anti-trust and competition rules are no longer needed for shipping. It feels that the guideline's objective has been achieved in the sense of facilitating the shift from a special system to more general application of the competition rules following the exemption granted to shipping agreements in 2006. It also feels that the guidelines duplicate the general guidelines on price-fixing and abuse of dominant position, like the general guidelines on shipping agreements. The Commission is seeking feedback from interested parties, which have until 27 July to submit their comments. The working document can be found at: http://ec.europa.eu/competition/consultations/2012_maritime_guidelines/index_en.html . (FG/transl.fl)