'Fair Trade Compliance' Excellent Companies Receive Up to 20% Reduction in Fines

Amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Fair Trade Act Passed at the Cabinet Meeting

Han Ki-jung, Chairman of the Fair Trade Commission.

Companies that excellently operate the 'Compliance Program (CP)' for fair trade can receive a reduction of up to 20% in fines.

The Korea Fair Trade Commission announced on the 4th that the amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act (Fair Trade Act) has passed the Cabinet meeting.

This amendment to the Enforcement Decree is a follow-up measure for the enforcement of the revised Fair Trade Act related to the legalization of CP, and the 'Regulations on CP Operation Evaluation' (hereinafter referred to as the Notice), which stipulates detailed matters related to the CP evaluation procedure, was newly established. The Enforcement Decree and the Notice will take effect from the 21st.

Accordingly, a business operator who meets the CP introduction requirements and has operated it for more than one year can receive a 10-15% reduction in fines once within the validity period (2 years) according to the evaluation grade if they receive an AA grade or higher. If the business operator proves that they detected and stopped the violation of the law through CP operation before the investigation started, they can receive an additional 5% reduction, up to a maximum of 20% reduction.

However, cases where the CP officer was involved in the violation of the law, the violation occurred before the introduction of CP, unfair joint acts with significant competition restrictions such as price-fixing, or executives directly involved in the violation are excluded from the fine reduction.

The Fair Trade Commission expressed expectations that "the amendment to the Enforcement Decree will enhance transparency and predictability of the CP system."