June 19，2014
Japan Fair Trade Commission
The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) today issued cease and desist orders and surcharge payment orders to corrugated board manufacturers, finding that they substantially restrained competition in the fields of selling corrugated board by, in concert with one another, concluding an agreement to raise the selling prices and the processing fees of corrugated board sheets and boxes(Note) sold to users that placed their price negotiation sections in eastern Japan, and of corrugated board boxes sold to large-lot users. The total amount of the surcharge to be paid is 13,293.13 million yen.
Before issuing the cease and desist orders and the surcharge payment orders, the JFTC notified the said manufacturers of the contents of the planned orders and provided them with opportunities to present their opinions and submit evidence. The JFTC issued the orders taking the opinions and the evidence submitted into consideration. The recipients dissatisfied with the orders may request, within sixty days of the date on which the transcript of the orders were served, the JFTC to initiate hearing procedures regarding the orders.
(Note) A “corrugated board sheet” means a paper-based material composed of a fluted inner sheet and one or two flat linerboards, and a “corrugated board box” is made of corrugated board sheets.
*Every announcement is tentative translation. Please refer to the original text written in Japanese.
