Fair Trade Commission Orders Research Service to Double Penalty Fines... Considering Differential Imposition by Company

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] With the amendment of the Fair Trade Act doubling fines for collusion and other violations starting next year, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has begun preparing related detailed regulations. The amendment to the Fair Trade Act includes raising fines for collusion from 10% to 20% of sales, fines for abuse of market dominance from 3% to 6%, and fines for unfair trade practices from 2% to 4%.

According to the FTC on the 15th, it recently commissioned a study titled "Research on Improvement Measures for the Fine System Following the Amendment of the Fair Trade Act." Through this study, the FTC plans to specify the criteria for imposing fines under the amended Fair Trade Act and implement them starting next year.

In this commissioned study, the FTC will additionally establish criteria for calculating fines for companies whose sales figures are difficult to determine and examine the necessity of differentiated fines based on company size. By analyzing prior overseas research, the FTC also intends to understand the actual levels of fines or penalties imposed in the United States and the European Union (EU).

Furthermore, the FTC will investigate the background and basis for the different fine rate criteria applied to small and medium-sized enterprises involved in collusion under Japan's Anti-Monopoly Act. It will also analyze data on fine calculations by company size from cases over the past five years where fines were imposed based on sales in unfair joint conduct or unfair trade practice incidents.

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