Tokyo, September 24, 2025 — Japan’s Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) has launched a fact-finding survey to assess the measures taken by procuring agencies to prevent bid rigging involving public officials, in its first such review in eight years.
The JFTC said the initiative aims to identify whether government bodies have adopted sufficient safeguards to deter collusion and misconduct in public tenders — particularly cases where procurement officials are directly involved.
“Bid rigging is one of the most serious violations under the Antimonopoly Act and must never be tolerated,” the JFTC Secretary General said. “It harms the interests of public agencies and, ultimately, taxpayers.”
Questionnaires were sent on September 19 to all agencies covered under Japan’s Act on Elimination and Prevention of Involvement in Bid Rigging (Involvement Prevention Act). The survey will continue through late October, with results expected to be published once analysis is complete.
This marks the first nationwide fact-finding since FY2017, when the JFTC last reviewed compliance measures among public sector procurers.
The JFTC has stepped up outreach and compliance training in recent years. In FY2023, it conducted 42 training sessions nationwide and dispatched lecturers to 256 programs organized by public agencies — reaching more than 40,000 officials. As of August 2025, it had already held 13 sessions and participated in 101 additional programs, with around 17,000 participants.
Source: https://www.jftc.go.jp/en/about_jftc/index_3_250924.html
