Whether agricultural cooperatives (including special agricultural cooperatives) are able to sell agricultural and fishery products produced by non-members;

In accordance with relevant Acts and subordinate statutes, a non-member of an agricultural cooperative (including a special agricultural cooperative) may generally use the business of a cooperative within the scope of restrictions under Article 59 of the Agricultural Cooperatives Act, and an agricultural cooperative may sell agricultural and fishery products produced by a non-member.

Supo Fisheries Administration and Market Corporation, Counsel for the plaintiff-appellee-appellant

Attorney Cho Jong-dae et al., Counsel for the plaintiff-appellant in the area of the Soan District;

Gwangju High Court Decision 73Na285 delivered on December 28, 1973

The judgment below is reversed, and the case is remanded to the Gwangju High Court.

The grounds of appeal are examined (including supplement of the grounds of appeal).

1. Under the reasoning of the judgment below, the defendant cooperative established a market similar to that of the agricultural cooperative under the Agricultural Cooperatives Act, Articles 118, 125, 5 (2) and 8 of the Agricultural Cooperatives Act with the aim of promoting the common interests of the members of the cooperative that runs a special agricultural business, and limited the business for which the purpose is to carry out profit-making speculative business beyond the scope of the limited business, while the special cooperative allows its members to exempt the taxes and charges of the State or local autonomous organizations other than customs duties and goods taxes from the scope of the application of Article 6-2 of the former Agricultural Cooperatives Act, which provides for the exclusion of the application of Article 13 B of the former Agricultural Cooperatives Act, and the alternative wholesale market Act is repealed, Article 10 (1) of the Agricultural Cooperatives Act, which provides for the exclusion of the application of the Central Wholesale Market Act, and its subordinate wholesale facilities cannot be established or wholesale business conducted by the members of the cooperative under the Agricultural Cooperatives Act without the consent of the members of the cooperative. The purport of the provision is that agricultural cooperative's non-sale business is not similar to those of the members of the cooperative's.

2. The instant case prohibits the Defendant from wholesale activities of non-member agricultural products and seeks compensation for damages for the three years prior to the filing of the instant lawsuit ( September 25, 1971) resulting from the Defendant’s violation, the relevant laws and regulations, which were enforced on the relevant date and time, will first be examined.

(1) The Central Wholesale Market Act (Act No. 207 of Jun. 22, 1951) newly established Article 6-2 under Article 6-2 by Act No. 267 of Dec. 16, 1952, which provides that, in the business area of the Central Wholesale Market, a market or a wholesale business operator shall not perform any act similar to the wholesale market with respect to goods handled by the market except the opener or the agency, in case of the business area of the Central Wholesale Market, the person who sets up the wholesale market or any wholesale

(2) The Agricultural and Fishery Products Wholesale Market Act was promulgated by Act No. 2483, Feb. 6, 1973 and enforced three months thereafter. According to Article 10(1) of the Act, there was a proviso to the effect that the prohibition of similar wholesale activities with the same content as Article 6-2 of the said Central Wholesale Market Act shall be placed, except for sales business conducted by the Agricultural Cooperatives (including the National Agricultural Cooperatives Federation) or the Fisheries Cooperatives (including the National Federation).

(3) The provisions of Article 9 of the Enforcement Decree of the Agricultural and Fishery Products Wholesale Market Act (Presidential Decree No. 6751 of July 9, 1973) stipulate that a sales business conducted by agricultural cooperatives and fisheries cooperatives under Article 10 (1) of the Act refers to a sales business conducted by members or directly by non-members of the agricultural and fishery products.

(4) For the purpose of Article 2 of the current Agricultural Cooperatives Act (Act No. 670 of Jul. 29, 1961), the term "agricultural cooperatives" refers to mobile agricultural cooperatives, military agricultural cooperatives, Seoul Special Metropolitan City agricultural cooperatives, and special agricultural cooperatives, and Article 13 of the Act (amended by Act No. 1879 of Jan. 16, 1967), Article 6-2 of the Central Wholesale Market Act (amended by Act No. 1879 of Jan. 16, 1967) provides that Article 6-2 of the above Central Wholesale Market Act shall not apply to cooperatives and the Federation shall be excluded from the application of other Acts and subordinate statutes, but Article 58 provides that 13 of the above Act shall be deleted as the business of agricultural cooperatives, and Article 59 provides that Article 125 of the same Act shall apply mutatis mutandis to special agricultural cooperatives, in addition to the provisions of the articles of association, to the effect that members may use their business under the conditions as prescribed by the articles of association.

In full view of the above provisions, the non-members of the agricultural cooperative can generally use the business of the cooperative within the limit of Article 59 of the Agricultural Cooperatives Act until 3 years prior to the filing of the lawsuit in this case. This interpretation is consistent with the above provision that Article 16 of the former Agricultural Cooperatives Act (Act No. 436 of February 14, 1957) provides that non-members shall use the cooperative facilities for the purpose of general use by the non-members of the agricultural cooperative under the current Agricultural Cooperatives Act, and it is justified in light of the origin of the above provision that Article 5 of the Agricultural Cooperatives Act and Article 8 of the same Act provides that the maximum service of the non-members of the agricultural cooperative and the non-members of the agricultural cooperative shall not be subject to the restriction of the non-member's use of the facilities or the non-member's use of the non-member's business shall not be subject to the restriction of the non-member's use of the agricultural cooperative facilities within the scope of the non-member's sale of the non-member's non-member's business.

Therefore, the judgment of the court below is reversed, and the case is remanded to the court below for a new trial. It is so decided as per Disposition with the assent of all participating judges.

Justices Kim Young-chul (Presiding Justice)