Watchdog to fine Celltrion $469,000 over unfair subcontracting practices
South Korea's antitrust watchdog said Thursday it will impose a 630 million-won ($469,000) fine on Celltrion Inc., a biotechnology firm, for unfairly canceling orders and failing to provide a subcontractor with required documents on time. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said it will also issue a corrective order against the company over violations related to COVID-19 test kits with a local…
South Korea's antitrust watchdog, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), announced on Thursday that it will fine biotechnology company Celltrion Inc. $469,000 for unfair subcontracting practices. The fine, which consists of 590 million won for canceling orders unfairly and 40 million won for failing to provide required documentation on time, was imposed in relation to COVID-19 test kits supplied to a local subcontractor.
During September 2021 and January 2022, Celltrion placed seven orders for the test kits. However, the company fell short of providing the legally required documents when altering the products in two of these orders and delayed issuing the documents for another. In one instance, Celltrion shifted some point-of-care (POC) test kits intended for medical professionals to over-the-counter (OTC) kits for general consumers before reverting some of those kits back to POC products.
The FTC emphasized that the Fair Transactions in Subcontracting Act dictates that prime contractors must adhere to strict guidelines when subcontracting.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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