SMEs "Welcome the Revision and Implementation of the Guidelines for Unfair Support Practices Review"

Korea Federation of SMEs

Front view of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daeseop] The small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) sector has expressed strong support for the Fair Trade Commission's revised "Guidelines for the Review of Unfair Support Practices," which will take effect from the 10th.

The Korea Federation of SMEs emphasized in a statement that "the revised guidelines concretely establish the previously ambiguous method for calculating normal prices and, importantly, separately set standards for assets, goods, and services, which had been applied under the same criteria as financial support despite their different natures."

They also stated, "Unfair preferential treatment among large conglomerate affiliates continuously threatens the market channels of SMEs, and the launch of low-priced products by large corporations backed by affiliate support causes market disruption, making it an unfair trade practice that must be corrected."

The Federation expressed optimism about improvements in unfair practices. By establishing specific criteria for transactions involving additional stages through affiliates, often referred to as 'toll fees,' and concretizing the pricing standards for these, it is expected that openly practiced unfair customs can be improved.

However, the Federation noted, "Since the threshold for judging unfair support practices has been significantly raised from 10 million KRW to 50 million KRW, there is concern that small-scale preferential treatment may occur more frequently than before, necessitating thorough market monitoring and sanctions by the Fair Trade Commission." They added, "The SME sector will also continue to lead efforts to comply with the Fair Trade Act and foster a culture of fair trade among companies to realize a fair economy."

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