In March 2010, the previous Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ)’s government submitted
the amendment bill of the Antimonopoly Act to the No.174 Diet in order to change
the procedures for challenging orders issued for antitrust violations by the
JFTC.
The proposed amendments would abolish the
administrative hearings on alleged antitrust violations that were conducted by
the JFTC and establish certain due process rights for parties being
investigated prior to the issuance of a JFTC order. The bill, however, had never been discussed at
the Diet due to the impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake and the twisted
Diet. The bill was finally dead along
with the dissolution of the House of Representatives of the Diet in November
2012.
The current ruling party is the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). The LDP’s government has not resubmitted a
bill to amend the Antimonopoly Act.
On April 10, 2013, six business organizations (Keidanren (Japan Business
Federation), Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), Keizai Doyukai (Japan
Association of Corporate Executives), National Federation of Small Business
Associations, Kansai Economic Federation, and American Chamber of Commerce in
Japan (ACCJ)) presented a joint statement on the prompt amendment of the
Antimonopoly Act. They propose that the
Japanese government should resubmit a bill to abolish the JFTC’s hearing
procedure for administrative appeal to the current Diet session; and the
government should seek the prompt passage of the bill.
It is unclear whether and when the government will submit the bill again;
however, considering the pressure from the business world, there will be some
movement in near future.
