South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) says it will fine Celltrion 630 million won for unfair subcontracting practices involving COVID-19 test kit orders with a local subcontractor. The FTC also plans a corrective order related to those subcontracting violations.
According to the FTC, the fine includes 590 million won for canceling orders unfairly and 40 million won for failing to provide required documentation on time. The regulator says Celltrion placed seven orders between September 2021 and January 2022 and, when product types were changed in some orders, the company did not issue legally required documents promptly. One reported issue involves switching between point-of-care (POC) and over-the-counter (OTC) kit types before later reverting some kits back to POC.
Yonhap and Korea Times both report the same FTC action and the same overall penalty amount. Korea Times adds more of the FTC’s breakdown of the components of the fine and describes the order-and-documentation timeline, while Yonhap leads with the watchdog fine framing.
