Fair Trade Commission Discusses Swift Relief Measures for Unpaid Payments... Proposal to Introduce Appraisal Evaluation Raised

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Dongwoo Lee] On the 18th, the Korea Fair Trade Mediation Agency held a meeting with experts in related fields at the Korea Fair Trade Mediation Agency to discuss measures for the prompt payment of unpaid subcontracting fees, the Fair Trade Commission announced.

At this meeting, opinions were exchanged on ways to quickly connect to compensation for damages through dispute mediation even after corrective actions by the Fair Trade Commission. Experts in the subcontracting field agreed on the necessity of prompt relief for unpaid fees and especially actively agreed on introducing appraisal evaluation procedures in the dispute mediation process for both the principal and subcontractors.

In this regard, methods such as operating an appraiser committee and entrusting the disputed amount to a trust company (financial institution) and conducting appraisal evaluation led by the trust company were proposed.

From the principal's side, it was suggested that if the subcontractor intentionally refuses to negotiate settlement during the dispute mediation process, the principal cannot pay the fees within the statutory payment period, so the dispute mediation period should be deducted from the payment period calculation.

From the subcontractor's side, it was proposed that the judicial effect of unfair special agreements should be nullified so that subcontractors can escape from the state of profit infringement due to unfair special agreements, but until legal amendments are made, the Fair Trade Commission's punishment should be strengthened first.

Regarding penalty points, which serve as criteria for restricting bid participation qualifications, a proposal was made to impose penalty points differentially according to the amount of fines instead of imposing the same penalty points regardless of the size of the fine. The Fair Trade Commission stated, "We plan to carefully review the suggestions presented at this meeting and reflect them in the establishment and execution of subcontracting policies."

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