Compilation of the ‘Guidelines Concerning the Activities of Enterprises, etc. Toward the Realization of a Green Society Under the Antimonopoly Act’

In ‘Plan for Global Warming Countermeasures’ (Cabinet decision, October 22, 2021), Japan declared goals of reducing greenhouse gas emission as of 2030 and 2050.

For achieving those goals, it is needed to build the society which combines reduction of environmental impact and economic growth, that is, ‘Green Society.’

In this regard, now, the JFTC compiled the ‘Guidelines Concerning the Activities of Enterprises, etc. Toward the Realization of a Green Society under the Antimonopoly Act’ in order to prevent anticompetitive conduct which deters realization of Green Society, and to raise transparency and predictability of the application and enforcement of the Act for businesses working toward Green Society.

2.

For compilation of the Guidelines, from October to December 2022 the JFTC held the ‘Study Group on Guidelines for Business Initiatives toward Green Society,’ hosted by the Director General of the Economic Affairs Bureau of the JFTC, in order to consider the Guidelines based on expertise of invited experts and the current state of Japan.

After then, the JFTC published the draft of Guidelines on January 13th 2023 to request public comments which was due on February 13th. In response to the request for public comments, 29 comments were submitted. After having carefully considered those comments, the JFTC decided to partially amend the draft and finalize the Guidelines.

3.

From now on, the JFTC will keep reviewing the Guidelines continuously whilst taking into account the changes in markets and business activities as well as law enforcements and consultation cases. Also, the JFTC will respond to consultations by businesses actively in light of the descriptions in the Guidelines for the purpose of supporting business activities toward Green Society.