The Fair Trade Commission, 16prefectural and metropolitan offices of education discuss preventing bid rigging in school uniform tenders

The Fair Trade Commission 10held a meeting of related institutions at the government complex in Sejong to discuss measures to prevent bid rigging in school uniform tenders. Prefectural and metropolitan offices of education nationwide 16participated in the meeting for the first time.

The meeting was held to improve the system for monitoring bid rigging in the public sector. The Fair Trade Commission briefed officials in charge of tenders at ordering agencies on tender-related systems, major decisions in related cases, and points requiring attention for ordering agencies.

The meeting of related institutions 2014has been held twice a year, in the first and second halves, every year since 2006brought together institutions that provide tender information to the bid-rigging indicator analysis system introduced in that year.

The Korea Fair Trade Commission discussed establishing a cooperation system with education offices, noting that collusion among school-uniform manufacturers leads to higher education costs for students and parents. It also explained points that officials responsible for placing orders should keep in mind in practice.

The Korea Fair Trade Commission also introduced plans to strengthen the linkage of bidding information for analyzing signs of collusion and requested cooperation from each institution. The aim is to facilitate the provision and linkage of information by ordering agencies.

Oh Haeng-rok, director general of the Korea Fair Trade Commission’s Cartel Investigation Bureau, said, "To prevent collusion, the attention and commitment of officials from each institution present at bidding sites are important," adding, "We will continue operating the council to make the monitoring network for bid-rigging more robust and enhance fairness in the public procurement market."