5. Each Party shall grant, inter alia, a treatment no less favourable than that accorded to its own ships, for the ships used for the transport of goods, passengers or both, sailing under the flag of the other Party or operated by its nationals or companies, with respect to access to ports, the use of infrastructure and auxiliary maritime services of those ports, as well as related fees and charges, customs facilities and the assignment of berths and facilities for loading and unloading.

Each Party shall grant, inter alia, a treatment no less favourable than that accorded to a Party's own vessels, for vessels used for the transport of goods, passengers or both, and flying the flag of the other Party, with respect to access to ports open to foreign vessels, the use of infrastructure and auxiliary maritime services of those ports, as well as related fees and charges, customs facilities and the assignment of berths and facilities for loading and unloading.

The Commission feels that this report, which analyses two two-year periods, allows a meaningful analysis and justifies the time taken to produce it, since the first report covered only the first two years of the application of the Directive.

Whereas the Community must also seek, in cooperation with all the coastal States concerned, to establish a common policy for the management and exploitation of Mediterranean fish stocks; whereas, furthermore, the management system introduced by this Regulation covers operations relating to the fishing of Mediterranean stocks carried out by vessels flying the flag of a third country in Community ports;

The Council accordingly agreed on three dates: December 31 1989 for freedom for shippers from one member state to offer services between ports in two other member states in a vessel flying a Community flag. December 31 1991 for freedom to offer services between a port in another member state and a third country in a vessel flying a Community flag. - 2 - January 1 1993 for freedom to offer services between a port in another member state and a third country in a non-Community vessel. 2. Application of the competition rules Until now, no detailed rules have existed for applying the Community's competition law to shipping.

The Jones Act currently reserves the US domestic shipping market for US-built boats, thereby ensuring that only those vessels built in US shipyards and flying a US flag can ply trade between one US port and another.