All questions
Year in review
Anti-cartel enforcement activity under the Act on Prohibition of Private Monopolisation and Maintenance of Fair Trade (AMA) continues to be an important part of the JFTC’s enforcement efforts. Active enforcements were carried out against domestic cartels, mainly for bid rigging and price-fixing in various industries, illustrating the JFTC’s continuously aggressive approach under the revised AMA regime in this area.
For enforcement of alleged infringements other than cartels and bid rigging, commitment procedures are frequently selected, and this trend has continued throughout 2025. Having said that, the JFTC issued a cease-and-desist order and surcharge payment order against Harley Davidson Japan KK instead of using the commitment procedures in connection with the abuse of superior bargaining position by the company – this may show the JFTC’s aggressive approach particularly against serious and obvious infringement. Throughout 2025, an increase in the variety of the cases has been continuously observed, especially in those involving concerns around the foreclosure of the competitors and RPM.
The JFTC also maintained a steady level of enforcement in merger control, as the total number of notified transactions involving foreign companies and the limited cases scrutinised remained stable. Frequent use of economic analysis in the cases has been also observed.
The JFTC has recently extended its regulatory reach via new legislations. In 2025, following an enactment in 2024, a law to regulate anticompetitive conducts by smartphone system operators came into effect, and the amendments to the subcontract act passed the Diet, which came into effect in January 2026.
In the area of advocacy, the JFTC was active throughout 2025 in the digital markets. It published a cutting-edge market study on generative AI. Apart from conducting various market studies, the JFTC published its guidance on issues surrounding economic security areas. It also continued to support companies’ efforts in establishing compliance programmes by publishing the guidance towards the establishment and operation of effective compliance programmes.
