납품단가 연동제도 도입의 법률적 문제와 해결방안

Recent the Russia-Ukraine war and the COVID-19 outbreak have prompted active discussions about the introduction of the interlocking system for cost of goods delivered. Since the small and medium-sized enterprises(‘SMEs’) have long been calling for the introduction of this system, finally the legislation of delivery unit price indexation system is now under review at the National Assembly. According to the amendment bills for relevant laws to the interlocking system for cost of goods delivered, an interlocking contract for the cost of goods delivered is a contract made in the final stage after having a prior consultation, which contains how the cost of goods delivered is adjusted. This adjustment would occur in case of a change to the cost of raw materials in a bid to dodge any risk entailed in contract relationship. However, such amendment bills have several risks which may cause to damage the liberty of contract by contracting parties and go against the rule of the Constitution. In fact, it is blamed that this type of contract from the bills is not intended for all parties but only for the SMEs which are assignees on consignment contracts, not favorable for conglomerates which are assignors. Accordingly, the SMEs who have made interlocking contracts with conglomerates have expressed their satisfaction with this system because it can lessen the burden caused by price changes of raw materials. In contrast, companies that have not introduced an interlocking system may be at risk because as entrusted businesses, they will have to cover the price increments. As a matter of facts, the most import thing is whether the interlocking system could be applied coercively to the parties by law even though one of parties are against the system. The system is, of course, one of the methods that can help avoid uncertainty in price changes of raw materials. However, it should not be forced by law but had better be made by autonomous contracts by the parties. As some conglomerates have already operated an interlocking system for major items with self-disciplined, but without compulsory measures, this kind of method would be the best for all parties and need to be applied to the principle of the interlocking system on the bills. The autonomous contracts by the parties for the interlocking system can benefit both conglomerates and SMEs. With many people putting their effort to develop a feasible strategy that can work on site, it is hoped that conglomerates and SMEs with autonomous contracts have more forward-looking perspectives towards the interlocking system for the cost of goods delivered.