Watchdog to fine Celltrion $469,000 over unfair subcontracting practices

South Korea's antitrust watchdog said Thursday it will impose a 630 million-won ($469,000) fine on Celltrion Inc., a biotechnology firm, for unfairly canceling orders and failing to provide a subcontractor with required documents on time. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said it will also issue a corrective order against the company over violations related to COVID-19 test kits with a local subcontractor. Of the total fine, 590 million won will be imposed for unfair order cancellations and 40 million won for failing to meet documentation requirements. According to the FTC, Celltrion placed seven orders for COVID-19 test kits between September 2021 and January 2022. The company failed to issue legally required documents when changing the types of products in two orders and delayed issuing documents for another. In one case, Celltrion changed some of the point-of-care (POC) test kits for medical professionals to over-the-counter (OTC) kits for general consumers, before switching some of those kits back to POC products. The FTC said the Fair Transactions in Subcontracting Act requires prime co