Abstract

Regulations of the grocery industry are one of the major concerns for competition authorities throughout the world. This chapter focuses on the regulations governing the unjust use of superior bargaining positions in the grocery industry, comparing the EU approach with the Japanese approach. Firstly, this chapter studies the regulations on unfair trade practices in the EU and in the UK. In 2011, the European Commission published a directive to combat late payment in commercial transactions. The UK has the Groceries Supply Code Practice and the Groceries Code Adjudicator to ensure adherence in following these trade practices. Secondly, this chapter studies the Japanese Subcontract Act that plays an important role in regulating the unjust use of superior bargaining positions. The UK approach has the advantage in that there is a variety of means of enforcement, and enforcement is stronger than it is with the Japanese approach. However, the Japanese approach has the advantage of solving problems rapidly through administrative measures.