Proposal to amend the Antimonopoly Act
On March 12, 2019, the “Bill for Partial Amendment to the Act on Prohibition of Private Monopolization and Maintenance of Fair Trade” was submitted to the Diet after the Cabinet approved, and passed by the Diet on June 19, 2019. The three pillars of this amendment are the revision of the calculation method of surcharges, the introduction of the system for reducing surcharges by investigative cooperation, and the introduction of the attorney-client privilege. Under the current system, it has been pointed out that it would be difficult to impose a surcharge if there were no domestic sales of the goods covered by the cartel, and that the investigative cooperation of leniency applicants would not be sufficiently obtained because the reduction and exemption rate of surcharge was fixed. Through the amendment, the calculation basis of surcharges was expanded, and the JFTC was given a certain discretion in the calculation of the surcharge and it was made easier to draw out the cooperation of applicants in the investigation. The privilege was granted to facilitate the consultation of attorneys to support the expansion of investigative cooperation. The date of enforcement of the amendment shall be the date specified by cabinet order within a period not exceeding one year and six months from the date of promulgation, except some provisions.