Page 47 - Lawtext Utility Law Review Journal Sample

194 16[2006/2007]4 ULR
Cardiff Bus Company
74/07 15 May 2007
Alcohol limits for leisure mariners An alcohol limit is to be introduced for non-professional mariners. The limit of 80 milligrams
13 June 2007
Bid-rigging and price-fixing – marine The OFT is carrying out on-site searches as part of a criminal investigation into suspected
hose
70/07 3 May 2007
Price reduction ordered
22/07 1 May 2007
UTILITIES LAW REVIEW PUBLISHED BY LAWTEXT PUBLISHING LIMITED
UK CURRENT SURVEY
Office of Fair Trading
www.oft.gov.org
The OFT has provisionally found that the Cardiff Bus Company (which is council-owned)
has behaved in a predatory manner designed to eliminate competitors. It issued a statement
of objections relating to the bus company’s behaviour between April 2004 and February
2005, during which time the company deliberately made a loss after another bus company,
2Travel plc, entered the market. Predatory behaviour is defined as a dominant company
sustaining losses in the short term with the knowledge that it will be able to recoup
them once the competition is forced to exit and is in breach of the Competition Act
1998. The Act prohibits agreements, practices and conduct likely to have a damaging
effect on competition in the United Kingdom, and the Chapter II prohibition covers
abusive conduct by an undertaking in a dominant position in a relevant market.
SEA
Department for Transport
www.dft.gov.uk
per 100 millilitres of blood will be equivalent to that already in existence for professional
mariners and will apply to those persons involved in the navigation of a vessel greater than
seven metres in length and or capable of a maximum speed of more than seven knots. The
alcohol limit is being introduced under Part 4 of the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003
which received Royal Assent on the 10 July 2003. The three alcohol limit are:
• in the case of breath, 35 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres
• in the case of blood, 80 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres
• in the case of urine, 107 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres.
Office of Fair Trading
ww.oft.gov.uk
cartel conduct relating to the marine hose market, and for the first time it has searched
a home address as part of a cartel investigation. (Marine hoses are used typically by the
oil and defence industries to transport oil between tankers and storage facilities.) The
allegations under investigation relate to a possible worldwide conspiracy between
executives of several companies to rig bids, fix prices and allocate markets in supplying
marine hoses. The suspected cartel could have affected contracts worth hundreds of
millions of pounds. The OFT’s investigation has been carried out under the Enterprise
Act 2002 and co-ordinated with investigations by the US Department of Justice. It has
also assisted the European Commission in connection with its investigation under Article
81 of the EC Treaty. Under section 188 of the Act, it is an offence for individuals to
dishonestly agree that businesses will engage in certain types of cartel activity. Individuals
convicted under the Act may be sentenced to up to five years’ imprisonment and/or an
unlimited fine. Companies found to have infringed Article 81 of the EC Treaty may be
fined up to 10 per cent of their annual worldwide turnover.
WATER
Competition Commission
www.competition-commission.org.uk
Following their merger, South East Water and Mid Kent Water have been ordered to pay
a price reduction of £4 million to their customers (to come into effect in 2008/9). It was
decided that the merger would prejudice Ofwat’s ability to make comparisons between
water enterprises to a limited extent. In general, however, the merger is expected to
generate customer benefits and to result in cost savings. It may also result in improved
water resource sharing and planning across what were previously company boundaries.
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