The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) announced on the 14th that it has decided to issue a corrective order and impose a fine of 594 million won on the Korea Egg Producers Association, a corporation that has artificially determined and notified the farm-gate prices of eggs, which are a staple food for the public. The KFTC explained that this measure reflects the new administration's strong determination to strictly punish collusion by business associations that undermine price stability for essential goods.

According to the KFTC, from January 2023 to January 2026, the Korea Egg Producers Association continuously determined and notified the standard prices of eggs by weight category to its member farms through regional special committees. The association consists of 580 farms that produce and sell fresh eggs.

Investigations found that the standard prices notified by the association had a decisive impact on actual market transaction prices. In particular, during the period of violation from 2023 to 2025, the association raised the standard price by 9.4%. Despite the fact that the production costs of fresh eggs, including feed costs, remained stable over the same period, the gap (margin) between the standard price and the production cost widened by about 46%, from 781 won in 2023 to 1,140 won in 2025.

Eggs are being sold at a large supermarket in Seoul. The Asia Business Daily

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Moon Jaeho, Director of Cartel Investigation at the KFTC, stated, "Rather than providing information based on market research, the association independently set and announced its desired prices without any particular basis," adding, "This is a clear violation of the law as it restricts free price competition among member businesses and has led to higher prices for consumers."

This sanction draws attention as it contrasts with previous cases where the KFTC had issued warnings or found no charges for the same conduct. In 2019, the KFTC considered the association's price notices to be primarily 'information provision,' as they were based on surveys of past transaction prices.

However, the judgment has changed this time. A KFTC official explained, "Whereas retailers previously held the upper hand in transactions, recently, the bargaining power of supplier farms has increased, giving the association's standard prices a stronger effect in driving actual transaction prices." In addition, the fact that the association presented a separate 'future standard price' even though the Livestock Products Quality Assessment Service was already investigating and announcing actual transaction prices, was considered evidence of intentional collusion.

The KFTC plans to continue strengthening its monitoring of collusion in areas closely related to people's livelihoods and will keep monitoring for any direct collusion among egg-producing farms.