S. Korea-EU accord to promote competition takes effect

• Source: Xinhua
• [18:10 July 02 2009]
• Comments

South Korea and the European Union (EU)'s accord on cracking anti-competitive actions took effect starting this month, South Korean antitrust watchdog said Thursday.

The agreement, which was reached in a summit meeting held in Seoul last May between President Lee Myung-bak and his EU counterparts, binds the two sides to cooperate in fighting against anti-competitive corporate activities in their markets, South Korea's Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said.

The accord was signed as the two sides were in need of mutual efforts in investigating and punishing international cartels and activities which were in the way of fair market competition, the commission said.

The agreement with the EU is expected to help South Korean companies avoid being investigated by the EU authorities over anti-competition practices, the FTC had earlier said.

Signing the first competition-related accord with the EU, South Korea is further seeing reaching similar accords with the United States, China and other countries, the watchdog said.