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Written question asked by Mike Amesbury (Labour) on Tuesday, 22 June 2021, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 24 June 2021. It was answered by Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative) on Tuesday, 29 June 2021 on behalf of the Department for International Trade.


Imports

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of costs for UK Importers; and what steps her Department is taking to help prevent price fixing in the global container shipping industry.

Answer

Container shipping costs are currently high, driven by increased demand as a result of a change in pandemic consumer spending. The levels of demand have meant that port and shipping container capacity has been stretched globally.

The Department for Transport has engaged closely with both ports and shipping lines to monitor the operational impacts, and make sure industry is doing all it can to mitigate impacts on the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom has robust competition laws, and the Competition and Markets Authority has discretion to investigate competition cases which, according to its own prioritisation principles, it considers most appropriate.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
20498
Session
2021-22
Related items
Shipping: China
Friday, 2 July 2021
Written questions
House of Commons
Freight: Price Caps
Tuesday, 1 February 2022
Written questions
House of Lords
Subjects
Costs Freight Imports Shipping Price fixing
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk