[National Assembly Standing Committee Inspection File] Food material markets straying beyond legal boundaries, unfair practices on the rise

Calls for government measures are growing as food material markets exploit legal blind spots to repeatedly engage in unfair practices, such as flipping supply prices. On the 13th, Representative Oh Se-hee from the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's Committee on Industry, Trade, Resources, SMEs, and Startups, urged the government to supplement the system regarding the regulatory evasion and unfair trade of large-scale food material markets. The current Distribution Industry Development Act only imposes location and business restrictions on large-scale markets and small-medium-sized stores (SSMs). However, there is no clear legal definition or regulatory provisions for food material markets, allowing them to evade most oversight, including business restrictions, supplier protection, and store entry regulations. As a result, food material markets have continued practices such as demanding costs ranging from 10 million won to 100 million won for new store ...