11 February 2010

DHL granted immunity from prosecution and fines

The world’s leading freight forwarders are among companies that have received a European Union complaint about alleged price-fixing in freight forwarding. The investigations, which started in 2007, have seen companies such as DHL, Kuehne + Nagel, UPS, Panalpina, Hellmann Worldwide, DB Schenker, Expeditors International of Washington Inc., DSV, UTi Worldwide, Nippon Express, Yusen Air & Sea and Ceva Logistics acknowledge they have received copies of the EU complaint.

In 2007, the EU stated that the investigations would cover forwarding services from the US to non-EU destinations, from the EU to the US, from China to the EU and from Southern China and Hong Kong to the EU. The Statement of Objections concerns alleged coordinated conduct related to different surcharges, none of which is, or relates to, fuel.

Companies that operate a cartel face the risk of being penalised up to 10.0% of their global revenue if found guilty. DP-DHL (Deutsche Post DHL) has been granted immunity from prosecution and fines by the European Commission conditional upon DHL Global Forwarding’s continued cooperation with the investigation.