April 9, 2025
Japan Fair Trade Commission
Summary of the 229th Antimonopoly Meeting
Today, I would like to talk about the summary of the 229th Antimonopoly Meeting held on March 14 this year.
In order to effectively and appropriately promote competition policy in response to changes in our country’s economy, the Antimonopoly Meeting has been held by the JFTC with the aim of hearing the opinions of all people and deepening their understanding of the implementation of the Antimonopoly Act.
This time, the General Secretariat explained three themes, and we have received opinions and questions from the Meeting members on each theme as follows.
Regarding the first theme, “Efforts on Economic Analysis,” questions were raised about whether the submission of economic analysis reports by enterprises is mainly limited to merger cases, or if such reports are also submitted in other types of cases. It was also asked whether consulting firms have been engaged as external experts in non-merger cases. In response, we explained that while most economic analysis reports are submitted in merger cases, in recent years there have also been cases where enterprises submitted such reports—prepared by consulting firms—in Antimonopoly Act violation cases. We believe this trend is on the rise compared to the past.
The second theme was “the Bill to amend the Subcontract Act.” One participant noted that the key point of the bill is to enhance enforcement, and emphasized that a central issue will be how to achieve effective coordination in strengthening broad-based enforcement. In response, we explained that even under the current law, the ministries responsible for specific industries already have investigative authority, and efforts to promote inter-ministerial collaboration are already underway, without waiting for the legal amendment. Specifically, we have initiated collaborative efforts among the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency, and the JFTC to exchange expertise—sharing the JFTC’s enforcement know-how and receiving insights based on the industry-specific knowledge of the relevant ministries.
The third theme was the “Market Study on Transactions Between Performers and Entertainment Agencies in the Music and Broadcasting Industry.” One participant commented that a major issue appears to lie in intellectual property rights, such as portrait rights and copyrights, and asked whether these concerns would be addressed in the upcoming guidelines, possibly in cooperation with the relevant ministries. In response, we explained that the guidelines will be developed in close consultation with the relevant ministries.
The JFTC will continue to promote competition policy effectively and appropriately based on the opinions above.
（Tentative translation）
