Fair Trade Commission Conducts On-Site Inspections of Emart and Lotte Mart Over Alleged Agricultural Product Price Inflation

Price Hikes Before Discount Events: Suspicions of "Price Inflation" Tactics
Fair Trade Commission Launches Investigation into Violations of the Act on Fair Labeling and Advertising

The Fair Trade Commission has launched an investigation into Emart and Lotte Mart over allegations that they inflated agricultural product prices just before the government’s agricultural and livestock product discount support program.

According to industry sources on the 16th, the Fair Trade Commission recently conducted on-site inspections at the headquarters of Emart and Lotte Mart and secured materials related to suspected violations of the Act on Fair Labeling and Advertising. There are indications that these companies raised agricultural product prices and then held discount events, misleading consumers.

Since 2022, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has been running a discount support program to ease the financial burden on consumers. If a retailer offers up to a 30% discount on items designated by the ministry, the government reimburses the discount amount for up to 10,000 won per person for one week.

The Fair Trade Commission’s investigation is being conducted to clarify suspicions of price inflation raised during the operation of this program. According to the results of the ministry’s regular audit announced by the Board of Audit and Inspection on September 18, 132 items saw price increases at major retailers after the start of the promotional events. Of these, 45 items were raised by more than 20% before the discounts were applied.

The Fair Trade Commission is investigating whether the business practices of these companies constitute violations of the Act on Fair Labeling and Advertising. This law was established to prevent businesses from deceiving consumers with false, exaggerated, or misleading representations or advertisements regarding their products.