The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has granted conditional authorisation to Australian Amalgamated Terminals Pty Ltd allowing it to operate motor vehicle and general cargo handling facilities, known as terminals, at ports in Brisbane, Wollongong, Melbourne, Launceston and Adelaide.
There are limited, if any, alternatives to AAT's terminals at some of the ports at which AAT operates. The ACCC has imposed three conditions to authorisation covering stevedore access, price review and dispute resolution. These are intended to ensure that AAT's conduct is consistent with competitive practices and provides the opportunity for users of AAT's terminals to raise and resolve issues with AAT.
The stevedore access condition establishes an independent and transparent process for stevedoring businesses seeking to operate at AAT's terminals.
The price review condition enables terminal users to object to price increases proposed by AAT. Under the administratively simple and efficient process, an independent price expert will assess whether the proposed price increase is reasonable and justified.
The dispute resolution condition will assist terminal users negotiate directly with AAT on non-price issues such as cargo storage, cargo damage and cargo collection.
AAT applied for authorisation as part of the July 2009 settlement of court proceedings in which the Federal Court held that former P&O and Patricks stevedoring companies and others entered into anti-competitive agreements in connection with the establishment of AAT, in contravention of the Trade Practices Act 1974.
Authorisation provides protection from court action for conduct that might otherwise raise concerns under the competition provisions of the Act. Broadly, the ACCC may grant an authorisation when it is satisfied that the public benefit from the conduct outweighs any public detriment.
The ACCC's determination will be available from the ACCC website www.accc.gov.au/AuthorisationsRegister.