A new characterization of Pareto distribution is proposed, and new goodness-of-fit tests based on it are constructed. Test statistics are functionals of U-empirical processes. The first of these statistics is of integral type, it is similar to the classical statistics
$\omega_n^1.$ The second one is a Kolmogorov type statistic. We show that the kernels of our statistics are non-degenerate. The limiting distribution and large deviations asymptotic of new statistics under null hypothesis are described. Their local Bahadur efficiency for parametric alternatives is calculated. This type of efficiency is mostly appropriate for the solution of our problem since the Kolmogorov type statistic is not asymptotically normal, and the Pitman approach is not applicable to this statistic. For the second statistic we evaluate the critical values by using Monte-Carlo methods. Also conditions
of local optimality of new statistics in the sense of Bahadur are discussed and examples of such special alternatives are given. For sma