Investigation on the violation of the Fair Trade Law by Shun Cheng Printing Ltd., Co., upon the request of the Central Chinese Taipei Office of the Investigation Bureau, the Ministry of Justices.
Chinese Taipei
Case:
Investigation on the violation of the Fair Trade Law by Shun Cheng Printing Ltd., Co., upon the request of the Central Chinese Taipei Office of the Investigation Bureau, the Ministry of Justices.
Key Words:
license-borrowing for bidding arrangement
Reference:
Fair Trade Commission Decision of December 29, 1999 (the 425th Commissioners' Meeting); Reply Letters (88) Kung Erh Tzu No. 8806999-004 and 005
Industry:
Printing Industry (1910)
Relevant Laws:
Article 24 of the Fair Trade Law
Summary:
1. The Fair Trade Commission (the Commission) was requested by the Central Chinese Taipei Office of the Investigation Bureau, the Ministry of Justices to investigate the bid for a printing job awarded to Shun Ch'eng Printing Ltd., Co. by the Travel Business Administration Bureau under Taiwan Provincial Government's Department of Transportation. Neither Shang Shang Color Co., Ltd. (The name of the company was changed to Hung Kuo Printing Industries, Ltd., Co. in 1997.) nor Yi Tien Industries Ltd., Co. actually participated in the bidding. Shun Ch'eng Printing Ltd., Co. merely provided [Hung Kuo Printing Industries Ltd., Co. and Yi Tien Industries Ltd., Co.] with a blank form to which they affixed their small and large seals. Shun Ch'eng Printing Ltd., Co. filled in the form and submitted it as its bid. The act violated Article 24 of Fair Trade Law (FTL). 2. Hung Kuo Printing Industries Ltd., Co. and Yi Tien Industries Ltd., Co. admitted that they affixed their companies' large and small seals on the blank price quotation form provided by Shun Ch'eng Printing Ltd., Co. acknowledged that the act had occurred, and indicated that it had filled in the form. Consequently, the respondent's acts were an obvious attempt to obtain a commercial opportunity by borrowing the license of another to fix the bidding. It was a deceptive scheme to make trading counterparts trade with the respondent, and it made competitors miss commercial opportunities which is part of fair competition. The acts were deceptive and obviously unfair, and thus were in violation of Article 24 of FTL.Appendix: Shun Ch'eng Printing Ltd., Co.'s Uniform Invoice Number: 22105350 Hung Kuo Printing Co., Ltd.'s Uniform Invoice Number: 23276036 Yi Tian Industries Ltd., Co.'s Uniform Invoice Number: 86746529 Summarized by Ma Ming-ling; Supervised by Shih Chin-ts'un