Brussels, 29/09/2006 (Agence Europe) - Following the repeal of the block exemption for liner shipping conferences by the Competitiveness Council on 25 September (see EUROPE 9272), on Friday the Commission launched a consultation exercise to refine the system which is to be implemented after 2008. The European Liner Affairs Association (ELAA), a liner shipping association representing around 90% of world container ship capacity, proposed that the block exemption be replaced with an information exchange system, but the Commission wants to be sure that this system is in line with competition rules. It has, therefore, published a staff paper on the potential impact of information exchanges between liner carriers on the market for liner shipping. The document, which is the fruit of discussions with representatives of the maritime transport sector, sets out a preliminary view of the extent to which the ELAA's revised proposal for an information exchange is compatible with competition rules. Some elements of the present ELAA proposal are problematic, particularly because they do not differ in effect from what liner conferences are currently doing. Stakeholders have until 31 October 2006 to submit their views, which will inform the guidelines due to be adopted in 2007 and to come into effect before the end of the transitional period for existing liner conferences, which expires in October 2008.