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[Alpha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Paul Lee] The Fair Trade Commission is expected to soon complete an investigation into allegations that Olive Young forced suppliers to trade exclusively and start the sanctions process.

According to the industry on the 8th, the FTC is looking into whether Olive Young pressured suppliers not to supply products to competing health and beauty (H&B) stores such as Lalavla and LOBS.

The FTC is said to be considering applying the market dominant (monopoly) status abuse clause to Olive Young under the Fair Trade Act.

According to the law, market-dominant operators should not engage in transactions on the condition that they do not unfairly trade with their competitors. Also, even if you are not a market dominant business operator, you should not unfairly exclude competitors or unfairly interfere with other business activities.

An FTC official said, "We cannot comment on whether or not to investigate the specific case."

An Olive Young official said, "It is still under investigation, and we are actively engaged in the investigation."

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