2003 JAPAN LAW: PRICE FIXING
Keywords: Antitrust, Antimonopoly law, FTC, Fair Trade Commission, Price Fixing,
Copyright 2004. All rights reserved Attorney Roderick H. Seeman
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The FTC accused Mitsubishi Rayon and Kaneka Corp. of fixing prices on a strengthening agent for vinyl chloride resins for 1999 and 2000 and issued a cease and desist order. The companies denied the charges and stated they would not comply. In April the FTC fined three makers of polypropylene and ordered them to pay 2 billion yen in fines for forming a price fixing cartel. The three firms were Mitsui Chemicals, Chisso Corp. and Japan Polychem Corp. They were a part of a group of seven companies ordered by the FTC to stop their price cartel in May 2001. The seven firms produce almost all of the product in Japan. The other four firms, Sunallomer, Tokuyama, Idemitsu Petrochemicals and Sumitomo Chemicals are still fighting the case. The FTC also warned the banks about price fixing activities when it appeared that all of the banks were going to introduce fees for using their ATM machines. If the banks made such decisions on their own individual merit, there would be no problem, but if it was being done on the basis of mutual discussions, there would be the potential for violation of the Antimonopoly Law. In December, 2003  the FTC requested the two Tokyo hospital associations to drop caps on fees for complete medical exams. Although the associations said the caps were voluntary they agreed to make the changes.