Appendix III. Extract from Japanese Merger Guidelines 'Particular Field of Trade

• Pages: 541-547

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APPENDIX III

EXTRACT FROM JAPANESE MERGER

GUIDELINES:1 “PARTICULAR FIELD OF TRADE”

Part II. A Particular Field of Trade

Concerning a business combination that would be the subject of the

review in relation to Part I, the business activities of all companies that

would form, maintain, and strengthen the joint relationships by the

business combination (hereinafter, “the company group”) are reviewed,

so that the impact of the business combination on competition in a

particular field of trade will be determined in accordance with the

perspectives set forth in Parts 3-5. The following clarifies the criteria of

judgment concerning the definition of a particular field of trade in such a

case:

1. Basic Point of View for the Scope of a Particular Field of Trade

A particular field of trade is to show the scope to determine whether

the effect of the business combination may be to restrain competition,

and is determined, in principle, by the viewpoint of the substitutability

for the users regarding the product range (including service; hereinafter

“product” will include service) which are the subject of a particular trade,

the range of trading areas (hereinafter called “geographic range”), and

etc.

Further, when necessary, the viewpoint of the substitutability for

suppliers is also considered.

When examining the substitutability for users, the Japan Fair Trade

Commission (JFTC) will suppose that a specific product is supplied by a

1. JAPAN FAIR TRADE COMM’N, GUIDELINES TO APPLICATION OF THE

ANTIMONOPOLY ACT CONCERNING REVIEW OF BUSINESS COMBINATIONS

§ II.A (2009), available at http://www.jftc.go.jp/e-

page/legislation/ama/RevisedMergerGuidelines.pdf. The following is an

unofficial English-language translation based on a translation prepared by

the Japanese Fair T rade Commission (JFTC), Japan’s competition

regulatory agency.