The Fair Trade Commission investigated Fu Mao Oils and other enterprises for violation of provisions prohibiting concerted action after the expiry of permission to engage in concerted action
Case:
The Fair Trade Commission investigated Fu Mao Oils and other enterprises for violation of provisions prohibiting concerted action after the expiry of permission to engage in concerted action
Key Words:
joint purchase of soybean cargos
Reference:
Fair Tarde Commission Decision of August 17, 2000 (the 458th Commissioners' Meeting); Disposition (89) Kung Ch'u Tzu No. 115
Industry:
Food Manufacturing Industry (1151)
Relevant Laws:
Article 14 of the Fair Trade Law
Summary:
1. Fu Mao Oils Co., Ltd. ("Fu Mao Oils") and 30 other firms had filed the application for approval to purchase jointly soybean cargoes and had obtained the permission from the Fair Trade Commission (the Commission). Upon the expiration of the original permission, Fu Mao Oils et al. applied for two extensions. The final extension expired on 31 March 2000. On 14 April 1990, Fu Mao Oils once again applied to the Commission for an extension on behalf of all 30 firms, but the Commission rejected the delayed application for its failing to meet the procedural requirement. 2. To confirm that whether Fu Mao et al. had continued to purchase jointly soybean cargos after the permission expired or not, the Commission conducted further investigation on this matter and found that Fu Mao Oils, Chia Hsin Foods Co., Ltd., T'ai Shan Enterprises Co., Ltd., Tung Shun Industries, Fu Shou Industries Co., Ltd., and Sino-Japan International Enterprises Co., Ltd. had jointly purchased soybean cargos on three occasions between April and May 2000 after the permission to engage in these activities, with a purchase volume of 166 thousand tons in total. 3. These six companies admitted that they had negligently failed to apply for an extension within the statutory period and promised to be abide by the periods prescribed by the Commission in the future. Due to the undisputed evidence that the three joint purchases of soybean cargoes were made without the permission from the Commission in violation of Article 14 of the Fair Trade Law prohibiting enterprises from acting in concert, the Commission imposed a fine of NT$100,000 on each firm. Appendix: Fu Mao Oils Co., Ltd.'s Uniform Invoice Number: 22102298 Chia Hsin Foods Co., Ltd.'s Uniform Invoice Number: 11892605 T'ai Shan Enterprises Co., Ltd.'s Uniform Invoice Number: 59661701 Fu Shou Industries Co., Ltd.'s Uniform Invoice Number: 56192402 Sino-Japan International Enterprises Co., Ltd.'s Uniform Invoice Number: 07046620 Tung Shun Industries Co., Ltd.'s Uniform Invoice Number: 56248004 Summarized by Chen Shu-hua; Supervised by Wu Te-sheng