[Anchor]
Six major domestic milling companies are set to face review by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) on allegations of colluding on the prices of wheat flour byproducts used for livestock feed for over eight years. Investigations showed that the sales affected by the collusion amounted to 1.4 trillion won.
Reporter Baegun has the details.
[Reporter]
The Fair Trade Commission announced that it has initiated deliberation procedures after investigating six domestic milling companies for allegedly colluding on the sales prices of wheat flour byproducts.
Wheat flour byproducts, commonly known as wheat bran or off-grade flour, are leftover wheat husks and flour that fail to meet edible standards, and are primarily used as raw materials for mixed livestock feed.
The companies under suspicion of collusion are Daehan Flour Mills, Sajo Dong-A One, Sajo Daerim, Samyang Corporation, CJ CheilJedang, and Hantop. The period during which the collusion took place was investigated to be 8 years and 6 months, from April 2017 to October of last year.
Except for Sajo Daerim, five of these companies were hit with hefty fines last May for flour price fixing.
[Oh Haeng-rok / Director General for Cartel Investigation Bureau, Fair Trade Commission: We found that the related sales affected by this collusive act reached 1.4 trillion won.]
The FTC stated that the collusion on wheat flour byproducts contributed to rising feed prices and may have also indirectly pushed up meat prices.
The FTC examiners who drafted the examination report recommended corrective orders, the imposition of fines, and the filing of criminal complaints against the corporations and executives involved.
With the deliberation procedures underway, the six companies will go through a clarification process over the next eight weeks, which includes submitting written opinions.
Following the clarification process, the FTC plans to hold a full commission meeting to make a final decision on whether law violations occurred and the level of sanctions.
(Camera Journalist: Lee Jae-young, Video Editing: Jeong Yong-hwa)
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