BIMCO has released a standard pooling agreement for use by tramp pools operating in dry and liquid bulk trades primarily on a COA or spot basis.
After nearly three years of development work BIMCO has released for publication the industry’s first standard pooling agreement. It is designed to provide users with a comprehensive and clearly worded contractual platform to establish pools that achieve the benefits of efficiency for the pool members and their customers without creating restrictions on trade.
Under POOLCON the pool is operated by a pool manager, with members time chartering in their tonnage to the pool. The provisions of the agreement clearly set out the administrative and procedural requirements for operating the pool while allocating liabilities and obligations as between the members of the pool and the pool managers.
POOLCON is designed to be a generic document that can be used internationally. Issues of competition law have been carefully considered during drafting, but it is essential for potential users to appreciate that assessing whether a pool arrangement is consistent with local competition legislation is dependent on a number of factors such as market share, market concentration, market structure and turnover. These are matters which need to be determined by the prospective parties before entering into an pool agreement as POOLCON cannot itself confer compliance with competition law.