Yanmar Korea Sanctioned by Fair Trade Commission for Deceptive Sales of Latest Agricultural Machinery

Administrative Order and 200 Million KRW Fine

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Yanmar Agricultural Machinery Korea, a manufacturer of agricultural machinery such as tractors, has been sanctioned by the Fair Trade Commission for falsifying the manufacturing dates of its products.

On the 10th, the Fair Trade Commission announced that it would impose corrective orders and a fine of 200 million KRW on Yanmar for violating the Act on Labeling and Advertising.

According to the Fair Trade Commission, Yanmar, an agricultural machinery manufacturer, arbitrarily replaced the type plates on a total of 449 agricultural machines from December 2016 to March 2021 and sold them.

The type plates attached to the main body and engine of the machines include a code indicating the manufacturing date. Yanmar altered the year codes on the type plates of agricultural machines in dealership inventory to appear as if they were recently manufactured, produced new type plates with these altered codes, and attached them to the machines to deceive customers about the manufacturing date.

Older agricultural machinery experiences depreciation in value due to parts corrosion and performance degradation, and may also pose safety issues, so more recently manufactured products command higher prices.

The Fair Trade Commission determined that Yanmar’s replacement of type plates hindered consumers’ rational purchasing decisions and disrupted fair trade order, leading to the decision to impose sanctions.

The Fair Trade Commission stated, "We will continuously monitor labeling and advertising practices that may cause property damage to consumers, such as falsifying manufacturing dates, and will take strict action if violations are confirmed."

Yanmar Agricultural Machinery Korea is a Korean corporation established by Japan’s Yanmar, with Yanmar Agriculture of Japan owning 100% of its shares (as of the end of the first half of last year).

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