"Five-Day Suspension for Charging Different Prices"... Ministry of Food and Drug Safety Tightens Penalties for Price Gouging

[Financial News] Penalties for price gouging at food service establishments such as restaurants and bakeries will be significantly strengthened. Under the previous rules, a first violation resulted in a corrective order, but from now on it will lead to a business suspension.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said on the 1st that it had revised and announced the Enforcement Rule of the Food Sanitation Act, which includes tougher administrative penalties for failing to post prices at restaurants or charging more than the posted price.
The move follows the joint government measures announced on Feb. 25 to root out price gouging.
Under the revised enforcement rule, food service establishments that do not display price lists or collect more than the posted price will face a five-day business suspension for a first offense.
If they continue to charge inflated prices, the penalty will increase to a 10-day suspension for a second offense and a 20-day suspension for a third offense. Previously, the first violation brought a corrective order, followed by a seven-day suspension for a second offense and a 15-day suspension for a third offense.
A ministry official explained the background, saying, "Consumer damage caused by price gouging at some establishments continues to occur during peak seasons and large-scale events. However, administrative sanctions for failing to post prices or charging above the posted price were limited to corrective orders, which made it difficult to prevent consumer harm."
Administrative procedures for food service operators will also be simplified. Previously, operators had to attach original copies of related documents when changing items in their business license, registration, or filing. Going forward, that document submission requirement will be removed. The obligation to keep a business registration certificate, along with fines for violations, will also be abolished.
The criteria for administrative penalties on distribution-focused sellers will be rationalized, while benefits for Food Safety Assured Establishments will be expanded.
To promote sales of agricultural products, a special facility standard that had applied when agricultural producer groups made and sold foods using domestically produced agricultural products as the main ingredient has now been extended to fisheries producer groups as well.
Foods that ready-to-sell manufacturers/processors may portion out and sell will now also include fish paste products, vinegar, and starch.
The fee reduction standards applied when filing civil petitions electronically, as well as the fee standards for temporary business filings, have also been clarified.
A ministry official said, "We will continue to push for institutional improvements to ease inconvenience for the public and businesses by placing the safety of the people as our top priority and rationally refining the system to reflect changing social conditions."

[email protected] Kim Seo-yeon Reporter