Four beer companies suspected of being part of a cartel have been adjusting shipping prices for several years - Forced investigation with potential for criminal charges, FTC

On the 7th, the Fair Trade Commission forcibly investigated four major beer companies - Asahi Breweries (Sumida Ward, Tokyo), Kirin Brewery (Nakano Ward), Suntory (Minato Ward), and Sapporo Breweries (Shibuya Ward) - on suspicion of having formed a cartel over the shipping prices of beer and other products. This was discovered through interviews with the people involved.

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The compulsory investigation is based on its criminal investigation authority, and the FTC will proceed with the investigation with a view to filing criminal charges with prosecutors.

There is a possibility that the four companies, which have a near-monopoly monopoly on the market, were adjusting prices of products closely related to consumers' lives, which could lead to a criminal case.

According to officials, the four companies are suspected of adjusting the shipping prices of beer and other products to wholesalers for several years.

It is believed that the sales managers of each company may have been sharing information about the timing and amount of price increases for beer, low-malt beer, and third-party beer.

As part of the activities of the industry group, the section managers held regular meetings under the name "Ichiki-kai."

The beer market is estimated to be worth 1 trillion yen, and the happoshu market is estimated to be worth 400 billion yen. The JFTC has determined that if the four companies that dominate the huge market adjust prices in unison, it would have a major impact on consumers' lives. It appears that a compulsory investigation has been launched.

This is the first time that the JFTC has applied its criminal investigation authority since the light oil cartel incident involving petroleum product sales companies in September last year.

If the JFTC recognizes a cartel among the four companies, the fines, which are calculated based on sales during the relevant period, could be high because the market size is large.

All four companies released comments such as, ``We will fully cooperate with the Fair Trade Commission's investigation.''