The Japan Fair Trade Commission launched simultaneous on-site inspections and compulsory investigations at the headquarters and other locations of Japan’s four major beer companies, including Asahi Group Holdings, Kirin Holdings and Sapporo Breweries, on suspicion of violating the Antimonopoly Act.
The JFTC is investigating a suspected price cartel concerning shipment prices for beer sold to commercial wholesalers. According to sources, sales personnel from the companies may have repeatedly met informally around regular meetings of the industry group Brewers Association of Japan, coordinating in advance on the timing and scale of past price increases.
The market is worth more than ¥1 trillion annually, and Japan’s domestic beer market is almost entirely dominated by four companies. If a cartel is established, its social impact is expected to be significant. A cartel would fix prices, raising concerns about disadvantages for consumers, reduced corporate investment in technological development, and effects on wholesalers and restaurants.
The JFTC is conducting compulsory searches and seizures as part of a criminal investigation, and plans to restore and analyse internal data to determine whether there was organised involvement. The data includes digital evidence, with the focus on which levels of management agreed to which figures. The possible application of the leniency programme for administrative surcharge payments is also expected to be considered.