Container carriers have welcomed a decision by the European Commission to exempt liner shipping from antitrust legislation for another four years.

The commission published a draft regulation this week that proposes extending the European Union's Consortia Block Exemption Regulation (BER) until 25 April 2024.

The BER legislation, which was up for review in April 2020, allows lines with a combined market share of less than 30% to cooperate or provide joint services on European trades.