The Fair Trade Commission's new task force for large and complex cases has picked the food industry as the target of its first on-site inspection, examining suspected long-running price collusion in processed foods such as kimchi, tofu and instant rice. The move signals that the regulator is making consumer prices its top investigative priority.
Industry sources said on the 14th that investigators from the FTC's Key Investigation Planning Group arrived that day at food makers including Daesang, Ottogi and CJ CheilJedang. The inspection is scheduled to run for five days through the 20th.
It is the first on-site inspection since the task force formally launched on the 1st. The unit expands a previous seven-member investigation team into a bureau-level organization of three divisions and about 40 staff. Taking over some functions of the FTC's investigation bureau, which was abolished in 2005, it handles collusion affecting household costs, platform monopolies and large-scale, complex cases.
The choice of the food industry as the first target is also notable. Even before the task force launched, the FTC had said it would prioritize collusion in sectors closely tied to daily life. By aiming at processed food prices in its very first inspection, the regulator has signaled it will concentrate its resources on consumer prices.
The six processed food categories under review are kimchi, tofu, cooking oils and fats, gift sets, instant rice products and fermented pastes such as soybean paste. The FTC is examining whether the companies coordinated in advance on prices or on the timing and size of price increases, starting in 2018.
The regulator is also looking into suspected resale price maintenance dating back to 2020. At issue is whether manufacturers restricted discount competition, including by requiring distributors not to sell products below a set price.
The FTC has previously stepped up penalties for collusion in food staples such as sugar, flour and starch sugar. With the scope now widened to finished processed foods, any confirmed collusion could send ripples across the broader food industry.
Through the inspection, the FTC plans to collect internal documents on pricing decisions, records of contacts between competitors and transaction data with distributors to determine whether the law was broken. An FTC official said the agency cannot confirm whether individual cases are under investigation or discuss their contents.