In more detail

In less than one month, and following the first batch of school uniform violation cases, please refer to our client alert, the ECA issued 13 new violation cases against several other schools. The violations mainly relate to abuse of dominant position regarding school uniforms.

In its press release, the ECA added that some schools imposed complex specifications for school uniforms across different educational stages, e.g., using multiple colors and adopting intricate designs, which effectively requires parents to purchase uniforms from a specific outlet.

Further, in the harm assessment, the ECA noted that these practices harmed parents by limiting their ability to choose school uniforms based on quality and price. The harm also extended to market players, such as factories and retailers, by not granting sufficient time to produce and sell the uniforms to parents.

It is worth noting that the ECA highlights that the violating schools include both private and public institutions, and the ECA decided to impose a number of remedies by first stopping the infringement and requiring compliance with the ECL for the current and coming academic years.

The 25 violation cases are not the first to be issued by the ECA in the school sector. The ECA has extensive experience in this area. In previous years, the ECA issued several competition violation cases against schools related to school uniforms under Articles 7 and 8 of the ECL. Further, the ECA expanded its review to include cases involving school supplies and other markets linked to schools. Moreover, the ECA identified a price-fixing cartel in the extracurricular schoolbooks market. Furthermore, another cartel was detected in the school meals market. In addition, the ECA issued standalone guidelines specifically addressing the school uniform sector.

Conclusion

A number of enforcement trends can be noted from the above case, including the following:

• The school uniform campaign was announced on 27 August 2025, with the first batch of cases issued on 12 October and the second batch on 8 November. This means the ECA was able to issue 12 cases within 46 days of launching the campaign and an additional 13 cases within just 27 days after the first batch. This is a record for the ECA and demonstrates significant progress in its investigative capabilities.
• The case sends a clear signal that once the ECA investigates a market, it tends to focus on all related cases within that sector and even expands into related sectors. Similar enforcement trends have been observed in other markets, such as the poultry and medical sectors.

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