농협하나로유통 has been caught repeatedly unlawfully receiving incentives for new product listings, even for items that have been on the market for as long as 8 years and 9 months. On August 9, the Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) announced it would impose a fine of 462 million won (approximately $4.6 million) on Nonghyup Hanaro Distribution for delaying the provision of written contracts to suppliers and for receiving promotional staff without prior agreements.
According to the KFTC's investigation, from February to November 2021, Nonghyup Hanaro Distribution collected a total of 323.6 million won (about $323,600) in new product listing incentives from 43 suppliers for 187 products that had been on the market for more than six months. The company justified this by claiming that any product newly listed at Hanaro Mart was considered a new product, regardless of its actual market release date.
Notably, some products that had been on the market for 8 years and 9 months were misrepresented as new, allowing the company to extract 10% of the supply price as an incentive. The KFTC determined that this practice exceeded reasonable industry standards, which typically consider products as new only within six months of their release, thus violating Article 15 of the Large-Scale Distribution Industry Act.
The KFTC also found that Nonghyup Hanaro Distribution delayed the issuance of written contracts. Between January 2021 and July 2024, the company entered into 863 supply and lease contracts with 426 suppliers but failed to provide official written contracts immediately, as required. The average delay in providing these documents was 30 days, with 64 instances exceeding 100 days.
Additionally, from April 2021 to January 2024, the company received 43 promotional staff members from 10 suppliers without prior written agreements on the terms of their deployment. These employees worked in an illegal status for up to 365 days, with labor costs amounting to 108 million won (approximately $108,000) borne by the suppliers.
In response, the KFTC issued a corrective order and imposed the fine. A KFTC official stated, "It is significant that we have strictly sanctioned the act of receiving new product listing incentives from suppliers for products that are not new, thereby providing economic benefits unlawfully. The KFTC will continue to monitor unfair practices by large-scale distributors to protect the rights of suppliers and retailers and will take strict action against any violations of the law."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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