Costco has been found to be in violation of the Subcontractor Act by having suppliers pay for discounts on groceries at its stores. The Japan Fair Trade Commission has ordered the Japanese corporation that operated the company to re-issue the same recommendation.
Costco has refunded the entire amount paid to the supplier in response to the findings of the Fair trade Commission, and said it will "follow the recommendations and strive to improve our operations" The commission has issued a recommendation to Costco Wholesale Japan to prevent this from happening again.