[AJU NEWS DB]
There were rumors that the government will start regulating the prices of imported beers recently, which brought consumer’s angry reactions. The government explained that whether the regulation will be applied is not yet decided.
In recent months, in supermarkets and convenience stores nationwide became the heaven for beer lovers. Imported beers in packs of 4 cans or more were discounted. The discount rate was great, ranging from at least 20 percent and much more.
Since the Beers from Korean manufacturers were not discounted, there were worries from the public when a media source reported that the Ministry of Strategy and Finance may suggest a standard price to restrict the prices on imported beer.
But the Ministry said nothing is decided. Ministry official said during an unscheduled press briefing on last Thursday, “There were media reports quoting an undersecretary’s comments during a meeting with people from the ministry, but as far as we know, there were no such comments.”
The current liquor tax law prohibits discounts on liquors which the retail price gets lower than the product’s factory price. The law makes Korean beers impossible to be sold at discounted price.
Since only the declared value of imported beers including customs is known, it is hard to apply regulations on discount rates because of lack of a standard. For example, an importer may declare the price of a beer can as KR\ 10.000 when its actual price is \3,000. Then the beer will be sold in the market as \5,000 for a discounted price.
The domestic beer manufacturers claim the regulation is making the market unfair for Korean beers to compete against imported beers by its cost.
But the Ministry said the doubt on the prices of imported beers is not true. “If there was a violation of declared value of the imported beers, the National Tax Service should have run investigations on the matter by now. But they haven’t” said Lim Jae-hyun, the Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.
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