December 22/2010
Japan Fair Trade Commission
The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC), on December 20, 2010, issued surcharge payment orders against 30 participating companies (hereinafter referred to as “30 companies”) in the bidding for construction works ordered by Iwate Prefecture pursuant to Paragraph 1,Article 48-2 of the AMA, the provision of the AMA prior to revision by the Act No. 35 of 2005, in accordance with transitional measures of the Act, as detailed below.
1. Outline of the violation (JFTC' decision on March 23, 2010)
106 companies including 30 companies (hereinafter referred to as “106 companies”), with respect to certain construction works ordered by Iwate Prefecture note1, jointly appointed the designated successful bidder and managed to have the designated successful bidder receive the order (The conduct violates Article 3 of the AMA, and is considered to be "conduct pertaining to consideration of services" of Paragraph 1 of Article 7-2 of the AMA).
2. Previous actions
| June 21, 2005 | Recommendations to 91 companies note2 among 106 companies (hereinafter referred to as “91 companies”) |
|---|---|
| August 5, 2005 | Decisions to initiate hearing procedures regarding 91 companies |
| May 8, 2006 | Surcharge payment order against a company among 91 companies |
| June 21, 2006 | Decision to initiate hearing procedures regarding the company |
| March 23, 2010 | Hearing decisions note3 against 80 companies note4 among 91 companies |
| March 23, 2010 | Decision note5 to order surcharge payment (7, 680, 000 yen) against the company |
| December 20, 2010 | Surcharge payment orders against 30 note6 companies among the above 80 companies. |
3. Companies subject to the surcharge payment orders, and the amount of the surcharge
(1) Number of companies subject to the surcharge payment orders: 30
(2) Total amount of surcharge: 362, 520, 000 yen
4. Time limit for payment
February 21, 2011
Note1) Construction works ordered by Iwate Prefecture for companies whose main offices are located in Iwate Prefecture, and which have grade A rating regarding construction works in the prefecture, through the means of general competitive bidding with some conditions,designated competitive bidding considering participants' intent or designated competitive bidding.
Note 2) 15 companies among 106 companies did not receive the recommendation because one year had passed since they had terminated the violation and so on.
Note 3) 6 companies among 80 companies appealed the decision to Tokyo High Court.
Note 4) 11 companies among 91 companies did not receive the decision because they were in the process of bankruptcy and so on.
Note 5) The decision became final.
Note 6) 50 companies among 80 companies did not receive the surcharge payment order because they did not receive construction work orders of Iwate Prefecture.
*Every announcement is tentative translation. Please refer to the original text written in Japanese.
