Fair Trade Commission Chairman Jo Seong-wook Meets with SMEs: "Focused Monitoring on Unfair Practices in Online Platforms" (Comprehensive)

At the SME Policy Meeting, "Will Inspect the Actual Conditions of Car Subcontracting"
"Strengthening Monitoring of Unfair Practices on Online Platforms"

(From the 4th person on the front row from the left) Joseph Sungwook, Chairman of the Fair Trade Commission, Kim Kimum, President of the Korea Federation of SMEs. Photo by Korea Federation of SMEs

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] "We will enact the Online Platform Fairness Act to promote fair trade between platforms and tenant companies."

On the 20th, Fair Trade Commission Chairman Cho Sung-wook attended a policy meeting held at the Korea Federation of SMEs in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, where he met with Kim Ki-moon, chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs, and expressed his position on the enactment of the Platform Fairness Act.

Chairman Cho added, "We will also strengthen monitoring of unfair practices that hinder innovation incentives in the digital economy, such as platforms favoring their own companies."

About 20 people attended the meeting, including Chairman Cho Sung-wook, Chairman Kim Ki-moon, Lim Byung-hoon, president of the Innobiz Association, Seok Yong-chan, president of the Mainbiz Association, and chairpersons of industry-specific SME cooperatives, who voiced the difficulties faced by SMEs regarding unfair trade and proposed improvement measures.

Chairman Cho stated, "We will expand systems to strengthen the bargaining power of subcontractors, such as establishing methods and procedures for adjusting subcontract payments through the Korea Federation of SMEs. We will also inspect the subcontracting status in the automobile sector amid industrial structural changes like the shift from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles, and intensively monitor unfair practices such as online distributors forcing suppliers not to trade with competitors."

During the subsequent discussion, attending SME representatives presented 20 field difficulties related to unfair trade, including △ introduction of a delivery price linkage system to alleviate the burden of rising raw material prices △ revitalization of subcontract payment adjustment negotiation systems △ establishment of a relief fund for companies damaged by unfair trade using fines △ differentiation of fine rates by company size △ improvement of punitive damages system △ exclusion of information exchange activities by SME organizations from unfair collusion application, and requested the formulation of improvement measures.

Kim Ki-moon, chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs, said, "Since the biggest difficulty for SMEs is the issue of not being able to reflect the soaring raw material prices in delivery prices, I hope the Fair Trade Commission will actively prepare measures based on field opinions to resolve this."

Fair Trade Commission Chairman Cho Sung-wook stated, "We plan to carefully review the suggestions from SMEs and will continue to meet with SME representatives to listen to their voices from the field and reflect them in policies."