December 10, 2024
Japan Fair Trade Commission
The Japan Fair Trade Commission (hereinafter referred to as the “JFTC”) has requested public comments regarding the necessary Cabinet Order and relevant Rules following the partial enforcement (note) of the Act on Promotion of Competition for Specified Smartphone Software (Act No. 58 of 2024) (hereinafter referred to as the “Act”). Today, the Cabinet Order was approved by the Cabinet. The JFTC hereby publishes the final version of the Cabinet Order and relevant Rules through the results of the public comments, as outlined below.
(note) the enforcement of the provisions set forth in Article 1, item (ⅱ) of the Supplementary Provisions of the Act
1.Development of Relevant Cabinet Order and Rules
The JFTC announced the draft version of “Cabinet Order Specifying Business Scale under Article 3, Paragraph (1) of the Act on Promotion of Competition for Specified Smartphone Software,” and “Rules for Enforcement of the Act on Promotion of Competition for Specified Smartphone Software” on October 28, 2024. Public comments were requested from relevant stakeholders until November 26, 2024.
After carefully reviewing the 14 submissions received, the JFTC made partial amendments and legal adjustments to the original drafts. The finalized documents are published as Annex 1-1 and Annex 1-2. Summaries of the submitted comments and the JFTC’s responses are provided in Annex 2.
2. Enforcement Date of Relevant Cabinet Order and Rules
The partial enforcement of the Act will take effect on December 19, 2024. Accordingly, the relevant Cabinet Order and Rules mentioned above will also come into effect on the same date.
The full enforcement of the Act is scheduled on a date specified by Cabinet Order, no later than December 19, 2025. The JFTC will continue its efforts to promote awareness of the Act and to make necessary preparations for its full enforcement.
* This announcement is a tentative translation. Please refer to the original text written in Japanese.
https://www.jftc.go.jp/houdou/pressrelease/2024/dec/241210_smartphone.html
* For more information, please refer to the Statement by the Secretary General at a regular press conference.
https://www.jftc.go.jp/en/about_jftc/index_3_241211.html
