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FTC chairman urges `no price-fixing'

Outgoing acting chairman of the Fair Trade Commission Yu Chau-chiuan, left, passes the commission seal to new Chairman Tang Jinn-chuan, right, at the succession ceremony held in Taipei yesterday. The two are joined by Minister Without Portfolio Ho Mei-yueh. PHOTO: LIAO CHIEN-YING, TAIPEI TIMES

With the Lunar New Year holidays just around the corner, the Fair Trade Commission yesterday urged business owners not to engage in price-fixing or over-stock products and disturb the function of the market.

The new chairman of the commission, Tang Jinn-chuan (湯金全), said that it has reminded the beauty sector (including hairdressers), auto maintenance plants and laundry shops to abide by the regulations of the Fair Trade Act (公平交易法).

"We hope these industries maintain normal prices during the holiday period and do not collude to raise prices," he said during a handing-over ceremony held yesterday morning.

The commission will also keep in close contact with police agencies, agricultural authorities and agricultural wholesale markets to make sure the supply of new-year goodies is sufficient and prices are stable.

Those violating the Fair Trade Act will be fined between NT$50,000 (US$1,520) and NT$25 million, Tang said.

Tang, 61, took over the post from his predecessor, Hwang Tzong-leh (黃宗樂), whose six-year term expired last Friday. With a master's degree in law from National Taiwan University, Tang has previously served as a lawmaker, deputy minister of justice and deputy mayor of Kaohsiung City.

He vowed to continue with amendments to the Fair Trade Act, maintain the stability and fairness of the market, boost administrative efficiency and strengthen inter-ministerial cooperation.

In addition, especially with online trading still flourishing, the commission plans to review the Fair Trade Act, which currently only regulates corporate, and not individual, operations.

As more individuals run businesses on the Internet, current tax rules and competition regulations may be out of date and require adjustment, vice chairman Yu Chao-chuan (余朝權) said.

However, as some individuals have run large-scale business on the Internet, current tax rules and competition regulations might be out of date and require adjustments, Yu said.

The commission will discuss the issue with the Ministry of Finance to hammer out more suitable versions of relevant laws to safeguard the market order, he added.
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