Fair Trade Commission Chairman: "Companies, Follow Fair Trade Internal Guidelines Properly"

"Companies Not Yet Joined CP Are Urged to Actively Consider Joining"

Jongwook Cho, Chairman of the Fair Trade Commission. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Cho Sung-wook, Chairman of the Korea Fair Trade Commission, urged companies to strictly adhere to their internal fair trade compliance systems. He conveyed a message that during the COVID-19 pandemic, companies should also make efforts for mutual growth to alleviate the difficulties faced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and small business owners.

On the 29th, Chairman Cho made these remarks at the presentation event of exemplary companies in the Fair Trade Compliance Program (CP) held at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry. CP is a compliance system that companies establish themselves, including education and supervision, to comply with fair trade-related laws and regulations.

Chairman Cho emphasized, "To overcome the economic crisis caused by COVID-19 and to prevent risks arising from legal violations in advance, it is essential that a culture of compliance with laws such as the Fair Trade Act spreads among companies."

He added, "I hope companies operate their CPs, which they have created to comply with fair trade-related laws, effectively, and I urge companies that have not yet introduced CP to actively consider adopting it."

He continued, "In the post-COVID era, efforts for mutual growth by not only the government but also companies are essential to alleviate the difficulties of SMEs and small business owners, who can be considered the weak links in our economy."

Excellent companies such as Hotel Lotte Duty Free, POSCO International, and Hanmi Pharmaceutical shared their CP operation cases.

Lotte Duty Free explained that it has developed CPs for individual business divisions and is conducting group-level Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) evaluations.

POSCO International emphasized the subcontracting law section in its CP and announced plans to register the CP on a mobile application (app).

Hanmi Pharmaceutical stated that it operates a customized compliance manual by selecting four specific tasks.

A Fair Trade Commission official said, "To ensure effective operation and dissemination, we plan to establish a legal basis for CP and are reviewing various incentive measures such as reducing fines for companies that operate CP excellently."

The CP presentation event has been held as a large-scale event in the form of a 'CP Forum' since 2012. This year, due to the impact of COVID-19, only Chairman Cho, Shin Dong-kwon, President of the Korea Fair Trade Mediation Agency, and three excellent CP companies attended, and the event was broadcast live on YouTube. The presentation video will be uploaded on the Korea Fair Trade Mediation Agency's website.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.