대규모유통업법의 주요 법률상 쟁점과 향후 과제

Abstract

This article reviews some issues on Large-Scale Retailers’ Fair TradePractices Act and suggests it’s tasks to be solved after. Large-Scale Retailers’Fair Trade Practices Act enacted on 2012 and it prohibited large scale retailersfrom abusing his trade position. A retailer may have some buyer power against suppliers due to differentstructural nature of demand-supply market. If retailers use their bargainingleverage to negotiate price or conditions of supply contract, supplier sufferfrom disadvantage in their inferior position. Many of unfair practices(for example,additional discounts, slotting fee requirements, pass on sales promotionexpense to supplier, etc.) are unilateral and performed confidentially, so competitionauthority had difficulty finding evidence. With that point in view, Large-ScaleRetailers’ Fair Trade Practices Act prevent the abuse of the buyer powerand shift in burden of proof. This article explored and identified three different issues–First, definitionof large scale retailers(include relative superior trade position), Second, illegalityof unfair practices and for the last, sanction propriety. In general, this worksought to identify key issues and analyze each point to suggest implicationsof the interpretation rather than to develop specific answers to each provisions.