Fair Trade Commission Chairman Kim Dong-soo vowed on Tuesday to streamline the complicated distribution systems of consumer products this year, with beef the first target.

The state-run antitrust regulator said it plans to reveal next week the result of its investigation into the whole distribution process of beef cattle and the selling prices at major retailers and restaurants.

The nation’s cattle farms have been hit hard by the fall in beef cattle prices due to an oversupply of Korean-bred cows, while consumers are complaining that prices are still high.

“We will look into areas such as beef and wine where the distribution structure is distorted and only producers and consumers shoulder the burden,“ the FTC chief told reporters on Tuesday.

Along with beef, the FTC plans to disclose the price information of consumer goods ranging from hiking boots and bottled water to digital TVs and smartphones through its online consumer report from March.

The report also will include the price differences of imported products that are sold at far higher prices in Korea such as baby strollers, health supplements and fashion retailers like Gap and Zara.

Kim, who took office last January, pointed to the commission cuts at department stores and supermarket chains as his most important achievement over the past year.

“Despite a moderate cut, I think, we have succeeded in showing our strong intent to curb the price bubble at the nation’s major retailers,” he said.

In line with the efforts, the FTC will focus more on strengthening the competitiveness of the online retail sector so that they can compete with conventional retailers shoulder to shoulder.

“At the end of this year, the nation’s e-commerce market would exceed the size of offline vendors,” Kim said. “If fair trade practices settle down online, existing retailers would face a fiercer competition and have no choice but to lower their prices.”

Even though the FTC is to tighten surveillance on unfair trade practices this year, Kim promised to ease unnecessary procedures for companies subject to potential investigation.

With a revision last year, the FTC will introduce a new system in which companies are allowed to handle consumer complaints themselves unless the cases seriously violate related laws such as collusion and price-fixing.

In a recent survey by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 84 percent of companies that have been probed by the FTC said they experienced difficulties such as business disruption and image decline.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)