JAPAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Tsuyoshi Ikeda, Takaaki Someya, Muneharu Yamamoto and Hiroaki Miyauchi, Ikeda & Someya
Ikeda & Someya Yurakucho ITOCiA 16th floor 2-7-1, Yurakucho Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo Japan
Tel: +81 50 1745 4000 Fax: +81 3 6261 7700 Email: tsuyoshi.ikeda@ikedasomeya.com Web: www.ikedasomeya.com
1. Legal Framework and Regulatory Bodies 1.1 Primary Laws and Regulation In Japan, the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations (AUPMR) serves as the primary law regulating the content of consumer-ori - ented advertisements. 1.2 Enforcement and Regulatory Authorities Key enforcement and regulatory authorities include the Consumer Affairs Agency (CAA), local govern - ments and the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC). The CAA and local governments can issue cease-and- desist orders for violation of the AUPMR. Furthermore, for violations of Article 5 (i) and (ii) of the AUPMR, the CAA can issue orders to pay surcharges. In contrast, the JFTC only has authority to investigate the case and report it to the CAA. Article 5 states that no entrepreneur may make a rep - resentation as provided for in any one of the following items in connection with the transaction of goods or services which the entrepreneur supplies: • (i) any representation where the quality, standard or any other particular relating to the content of goods or services is portrayed to general consum - ers as being significantly superior to that of the actual goods or services, or is portrayed as being, contrary to fact, significantly superior to those of other entrepreneurs who supply the same kind of or similar goods or services as those supplied by
the relevant entrepreneur, thereby being likely to induce customers unjustly and to interfere with general consumers’ voluntary and rational choice- making; and • (ii) any representation by which price or any other trade terms of goods or services could be misun - derstood by general consumers to be significantly more advantageous than the actual goods or services, or than those of other entrepreneurs who supply the same kind of or similar goods or servic - es as those supplied by the relevant entrepreneur, thereby being likely to induce customers unjustly and to interfere with general consumers’ voluntary and rational choice-making. 1.3 Liability for Deceptive Advertising Under the AUPMR, the business operator – which means a person or entity engaged in commerce, the manufacturing industry, the financial industry or other businesses – can be held liable when it makes a mis - leading representation for the transaction of goods or services that it supplies. 1.4 What Is Advertising? The AUPMR regulates “representations” made by a business operator as a means of inducing customers regarding the content of goods or services supplied by the business operator, or the trade conditions or other matters concerning the transactions that are designated by the Prime Minister. This includes not only flyers and web advertisements but also sales pitches, etc.
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