The Fair Trade Law of the Republic of China (R.O.C.) was enacted on February 4, 1991 and went into effect on the same date one year later. The aim of the law is to maintain trading order, protect consumer interests, ensure fair competition, promote economic stability and prosperity, and provide fair and reasonable competition rules. The Fair Trade Commission, Executive Yuan (FTC) was established in accordance with the Fair Trade Law on January 27, 1992 and charged with the important mission of formulating competition policy and enforcing the Fair Trade Law. Ever since its establishment, the FTC has vigorously carried out its duties in line with the administrative principles of "earnestly administering the law, supporting economic development, serving the public interest, and keeping abreast of international trends". Thanks to the hard work of our colleagues and support from all quarters of society, we have made great progress in our efforts to establish a fair trading system, enforce fair trade laws and regulations, promote greater awareness and acceptance of the Fair Trade Law, and develop international exchange and coperation.

a. Establishing a Fair Trading System

Establishing a fully developed fair trading system is the foundation for the sustainable development of the FTC. We focus on two main objectives: (1) the complete establishment of a strong legal system; and (2) deregulation. As to the first objective, the FTC has been working since 1993 to amend the Fair Trade Law. We completed the first major amendment of the law in February 1999, followed by the second and third amendments in April 2000 and February 2002, respectively. We also enacted and amended more than sixty case handling guidelines. These changes have brought the Fair Trade Law in line with the needs of today's economy and have enhanced the fairness and transparency of the FTC's enforcement work. As for the promotion of deregulation, the FTC launched a special deregulation project in 1994 and subsequently established an ad hoc task force, both with the aim of actively collaboration with other government agencies to examine laws and regulations running counter to the spirit of competition, and with an eye to amending or eliminating all inappropriate regulations and market entry barriers. Moreover, we further lifted the restrictions on the enterprise merge by changing the system from the pre-merger approval system to the pre-merger notification system. As to the sales volume for filing pre-merger notification, the FTC also adopted "high and low double threshold system" to replace "single threshold system", so the merger control will become more specific, reasonable and abreast of the trend of economic globalization.

b. Enforcing Fair Trade Law and Regulations

Between January 1992 and October 2008, the FTC handled a total of 31,870 cases, including 22,871 complaints; 151 applications for approval of concerted action; 6,386 merger applications or filings (with 377 merger filings); and 2,462 requests for interpretation. The number of cases that have been successfully closed stands at 31,593 with an average success rate of 99.13%. As of the end of October 2008, 2,974 cases had resulted in dispositions issued against respondents found in violation of the Fair Trade Law. During this period, the FTC was reviewed as the "Team of the Year" by the British monthly magazine Global Competition Review for handling cement cartel case.

Additionally, in order to maintain a fair trading environment, the FTC has appropriately initiated investigations on illegal multi-level sales, false advertisement, and major cases that are particularly damaging the public interests.

c. Promoting Fair Trade Law

The FTC has been practicing in accordance with the principle that "promotion prevails over punishment" and has been promting the concept of fair trade through a diverse range of channels. Since its establishment, the FTC has held almost 1,800 promotion conferences; 40 training courses on the Fair Trade Law; and more than 80 batches of the Fair Trade Law training camp to make sure that the domestic industries, governments and academia fully understand and comply with the law. We also completed the plan of "Assisting Industries in Establishing Spontaneous Self-Regulated Rules" and helped enterprises enact law-abiding rules and establish self-regulated mechanisms. In addition, the FTC respectively established FTC Service Center, Competition Policy Information and Research Center, Southern Region Service Center, and an online service center to provide the public with inquiry and consultation services regarding any and all information and materials related to the Fair Trade Law. The FTC also employs broadcasting advertisement, publishes periodic bilingual competition publications, and prints and delivers diverse written materials and newsletters to improve the public's awareness about the Fair Trade Law.

d. Developing International Exchange and Cooperation

The FTC has done its part from day one to facilitate closer international cooperation on competition issues. We frequently dispatch personnel to attend international conferences, engage in bilateral consultations with competition authorities from other countries, sign cooperation agreements on the competition law, compile the APEC Competition Policy and Law Database, receive the peer review of competition laws and policies given by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and hold international seminars on competition laws and policies regularly. In recent years, we have successfully played the role of an active facilitator on a number of occasions. For example, we have jointly held the International Competition Policy Seminar in cooperation with OECD on a regular basis. The FTC also provides assistance to the countries in Southeast Asia to help them formulate competition regulations through dispatching trainers, providing internship or training courses, holding seminars, providing materials of competition laws for reference. The advance of economic globalization and the rise of the knowledge-based economy make it more important for us to take international trends and industrial development into account when designing competition policy. The FTC will work to respond to the needs of this changing world and establish an environment in which fair competition thrives. By means of these measures, we aim to maintain market-trading order, protect the consumer interests, and promote economic stability and prosperity.

Chairperson