FTC Criticizes Screen-quota System As Anti-Competitive

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) today ruled the screen-quota system as an anti-competitive regulation that goes against the laws of free market principles.

The Commission argued that uniform environmental regulations should be transformed into a market-friendly medium while the government should change its access to the labor-management relationship, education and medical sector.

The FTC discussed such cases while pointing out problems with the government regulation policy, creating a comprehensive package explaining all this called “Competition Policy and Fair Trade System,” which was posted up on its Internet homepage. The material was originally designed to educate public officials working at local self-governing institutes.

The FTC argued that most of the anti-competitive regulations were created out of administrative convenience and beneficiary groups’ demand. It presented the screen-quota system as well as various licensing and permission systems as representative examples.

It then presented alternative measures to protect the environment, such as selling polluting rights to each other and providing subsidies to corporations releasing less pollution materials, explaining, “If anti-pollution is the most precious value on earth, then it would be necessary for human beings to welcome an end to human civilization.”

Alongside this, the FTC also referred to the government and social systems as a subject for reformation.

Especially underscored was that the government should draw a distinct line between what it can do and what the market can do in such sectors as the management-labor relationship, social well-being, medical service and education.

The Commission suggested introducing a private health insurance system in addition to the current public health insurance, saying, “Many citizens have a capability and desire to get direct medical assistance from the market under their own responsibility.”

In the education sector, it said that public education was not functioning well due to too uniform and equalitarian a view. It proposed giving an incentive to teachers so that they could provide better educational service while recognizing students’ right to select their own schools and teachers.

The FTC also pointed out that the government’s subsidies for a specific group of rural communities and businesses would eventually obstruct fair competition.

FTC Policy Director Lee Byung-joo said, “The report presents only theory-based cases to promote fair competition. We have not reviewed them as our policy goals.”

Ki-Jeong Ko koh@donga.com