Japan
Answer ... The Act on Prohibition of Private Monopolisation and Maintenance of Fair Trade (AMA) applies to cartels.
Japan
Answer ... The AMA sets forth exemptions for:
- partnerships which meet certain requirements; and
- resale price maintenance between an enterprise that publishes works or an enterprise that sells such published works and another enterprise that purchases these works.
Moreover, certain provisions in specific laws - such as Article 101 of the Insurance Business Act, Article 110 of the Civil Aeronautics Act and Article 28 of the Marine Transportation Act - set forth exemptions for cartel activities.
Japan
Answer ... The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) is the administrative authority responsible for enforcing the AMA. If the JFTC determines that a cartel activity should be criminally punished, it will file an accusation to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which will take charge of the criminal trial procedures. See also question 2.3.
Japan
Answer ... The number of cartels subject to a JFTC cease and desist order was:
- eight in FY 2014;
- seven in FY 2015;
- nine in FY 2016;
- 11 in FY 2017; and
- seven in FY 2018.
The total amount of administrative surcharges ordered by the JFTC was approximately:
- JPY 17.1 billion in FY 2014;
- JPY 8.5 billion in FY 2015;
- JPY 9.1 billion in FY 2016;
- JPY 1.9 billion in FY 2017; and
- JPY 0.3 billion in FY 2018.
See question 9.1 for an evaluation of recent statistics and trends.
Moreover, on 19 June 2019 a revision of the AMA introducing changes to the calculation of administrative surcharges passed the Diet. The revision will come into effect within 18 months from the date of promulgation of the bill (26 June 2019) (see question 9.1). The JFTC also plans to introduce a (partial) attorney-client privilege regime at the same time (see question 3.7).
