Chapter 27 1. Stones from other mountains: How do foreigners manage food?

In the minds of many people, the United States is a country with a relatively developed market economy, and the policy of liberalization of agricultural product trade is implemented, so the government will not intervene and regulate food production and management.This is not the case.In order to encourage grain production and stabilize the grain market, the United States has established a set of management systems to support grain production and regulate market circulation.The basic goal of American food policy is to provide income support to farmers so as to reduce the income gap between grain farmers and non-agricultural workers.The direct subsidy to farmers is mainly in the form of price difference subsidy with "target price" as the core.The main players involved in grain distribution in the United States are cooperatives and various private grain merchants. On the surface, they have a relatively high degree of freedom. In fact, the US government has formulated a series of detailed rules to strictly supervise the production, storage, transportation, processing, circulation and trade of grain.The United States has a well-developed grain storage and transportation system, and is effectively supervising the grain storage industry. The American Warehousing Act and the Grain Storage Regulations brought the grain storage industry into a unified regulatory system.The grain market in the United States is also relatively regulated.In the United States, the traditional grain spot wholesale trading market is rare. What play an important role in grain circulation are the primary grain market (mainly rural granaries), the terminal market (referring to large granaries located near railways and ports) and futures. market.This market system effectively links grain producers, domestic and foreign grain merchants, and grain users together, which greatly facilitates grain trading activities and saves costs.In addition, the U.S. government has also strengthened macro-control of grain through export credit guarantee programs, grain inspections and new agricultural laws.

For a long time, the EU's stable grain market prices have attracted worldwide attention.In addition to implementing import and export balance tariffs in foreign trade to protect the domestic market from fluctuations in the world market, the more important thing is to implement domestic market measures based on government intervention in purchases and price protection.First of all, in terms of quantity, the government does not set an upper limit for the protection price purchase, only sets a lower limit, and stipulates that except for a period of time after harvest, grain purchases at the protection price will be carried out throughout the year, and the protection price will increase every month. The range is generally the normal storage cost and capital occupation costs, and have minimum quality requirements for the purchased grain.In this way, food prices can be protected for food producers and operators, and there will be no problem of excessive inventory caused by selling a large amount to the country in a short period of time due to low market prices.Set a lower limit on the quantity of purchases, so that the protection price is the wholesale protection price, so as to avoid excessive burden on the government.Secondly, the government does not have separate grain storage facilities. The grain purchased by it is generally entrusted to private storage companies or agricultural associations to store it on its behalf, and the government pays the corresponding fees.Since the storage unit does not have the ownership of the grain, it is responsible for storing it and not using it, thus realizing the separation of grain management and storage, and ultimately ensuring the stability of the grain market.

Due to the shortage of arable land, Japan is a major food importer in the world, with a food self-sufficiency rate of only 26%, ranking 113th in the world.Perhaps for this reason, Japan’s grain management is quite strict. In addition to high subsidies for grain production to increase grain self-sufficiency, they have a set of corresponding laws and regulations to supervise and manage grain production, operation, and markets. In 1992, under the pressure of the United States and other countries, the Japanese cabinet decided to open part of the rice market. As a result, there was market chaos, soaring rice prices that year, and even jokes about "rice thieves" haunting everywhere.It not only affected the market but also the political situation. The councils of 30 rice-producing counties passed a resolution against opening the rice market. Farmers rallied to protest. Finally, the Japanese cabinet had to withdraw its order.A country with a large economy is so powerless to deal with fluctuations in the grain market, let alone a China with a population of 1.2 billion?This shows how unrealistic the "three liberalizations" of my country's grain in 1992 were.

Japan's grain management mainly relies on legal means.As early as 1942, Japan formulated and promulgated the "Grain Management Law", which has been implemented for 57 years.During this period, although several revisions were made, and the final revision was made in 1978, the legislative purpose expressed in Article 1 of the Grain Administration Law has not been changed, which shows that the guiding ideology of the legislation has not changed.Article 1 states: "The purpose of this law is to manage food in order to ensure the food demand of the people and the stability of the national economy, and to adjust the supply and demand of food, price adjustments, and control the distribution of food." "Control" means "unified control". That is to say, the purpose of Japan's enactment of the "Grain Management Law" is to control the supply and demand of food, the adjustment of prices, and the distribution of food.This guiding ideology runs through all aspects of grain circulation.

Regarding the purchase of grain, according to the production and demand of grain in Japan, the "Grain Management Law" stipulates three methods for grain purchase: "unified purchase", "unrestricted purchase" and "purchase according to needs". Domestically produced rice is subject to unified purchase.It is stipulated that rice grain producers must sell rice grain to the government according to the order, and producers are not allowed to sell it by themselves; (2) The government implements unlimited purchases of domestic wheat.It is stipulated that as long as wheat producers submit an application to the government for sale, the government will not reject it, and buy as much as they want; (3) The government also purchases grains other than rice and wheat when it deems necessary.

With regard to the sale of grain, the "Grain Administration Law" also put forward corresponding regulations on the sale of grain by the government to match the purchase of grain. Among them: (1) Implement a planned rationing system for rice grain.Japan's rice grain rationing system is responsible for each level from top to bottom, which is very strict. The "Food Management Law" stipulates that the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries formulates a monthly distribution plan for rice grains and processed products purchased by the government, and notifies the governors of the prefectures of the plan; , and notify Migu Shang and the head of the city, town and village.The rationing plan of the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is implemented by issuing "purchase coupons" to residents.Without the approval of the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, "purchase coupons" shall not be issued to unplanned consumers and unapproved vendors, and consumers and vendors who have obtained "purchase coupons" shall not transfer or inherit "purchase coupons"; (2) Wheat (processed products including wheat and products using wheat as raw material) mainly implement the free contract sale system.Under normal circumstances, the government can sell wheat to consumers or sellers based on contracts, but when the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries deems it inappropriate to rely on free contracts, a competitive contract will be concluded through bidding to sell wheat to consumers and sellers .It can be seen from this that although the sale of wheat is not a planned rationing system, it is sold by free contract or competitive contract under the premise that the government controls the grain source through unlimited purchase and occupies a monopoly position.This is strictly different from liberalizing the market.

Regarding the import and export of grain, the "Grain Management Law" has very clear regulations on the import and export of Japanese grain, and it also reflects the guiding ideology of "unified control".One is that except for special circumstances, the import and export of rice and wheat must be approved by the government, and those who import and export without permission will be severely punished; second, all rice and wheat imported with government approval must be sold to the government at a price set by the government. , not to be sold to others; third, when the government deems it particularly necessary, it may prohibit or restrict the import and export of grains other than rice and barley.

In terms of grain prices, the "Grain Management Law" stipulates that the prices for government purchases and sales of rice and wheat are determined by the government and announced in the form of orders; the prices of grain other than rice and wheat purchased by the government are also determined by the government according The "current price" is determined.It can be seen from this that the Japanese government's "control" on food prices is very strict. It can be said that in the past few decades, it has always insisted on the practice of government setting prices and publishing them according to orders.However, when the government sets prices, it also has very clear pricing principles, and the focus of these principles is on the fundamental purpose of stimulating production and stabilizing society.For example, when determining the purchase price, it is necessary to consider the economic conditions such as production costs and prices, and to ensure reproduction, so as to mobilize the enthusiasm of producers; Consumers live a stable life and don't worry about not being able to afford food.This overall food policy of supporting food production and ensuring a moderate and cheap supply of food is undoubtedly an important guarantee for the rapid development of the Japanese economy.

In order to ensure the effective implementation of the provisions of the "Grain Administration Law", the law also imposes severe penalties on violators.Among them, the penalty of imprisonment for less than 10 years or a fine of less than 800,000 yuan are as follows: grain sellers who do not sell rice grains to consumers holding "purchase coupons"; those who transfer or inherit "purchase coupons" to others; food prices, and so on.Those punished with imprisonment for less than 3 years or a fine of less than 30,000 yuan include: those who do not follow orders to sell rice grains to the government; those who import and export rice grains and wheat without approval, and so on.

Japan's "Grain Management Law" is a basic law, and there are also some specific laws and regulations to facilitate the implementation of the basic law.Japan's food situation is similar to that of our country, both have the characteristics of large population and small land.Therefore, a careful study of Japan's grain laws and regulations has great reference value for the reform of my country's grain circulation system.For example, the government directly controls grain purchases and imports and exports, the government sets purchase prices and sales prices, and uses legal means to stabilize the grain market. These are all methods that can be used for reference.

Accelerating the process of my country's grain legislation to ensure the smooth implementation of my country's grain reform is also an aspect that cannot be ignored. It is a common practice in many countries in the world that the government or commercial institutions controlled by the government have sufficient food sources.The semi-official Canadian Wheat Board monopolizes the purchase and sale of all wheat and barley in western Canada, and it also monopolizes the export quota of Canadian wheat and the right to issue national export credits. Australia is an important grain exporting country. It has always opposed the export subsidy policies of the United States and the European Community and advocated trade liberalization. However, its domestic grain market is monopolized by semi-official organizations, which implement a price guarantee policy for farmers.The Australian Wheat Bureau, established in 1939, is a semi-official organization that almost monopolizes all wheat circulation in Australia.According to the law, the Australian Wheat Board has the right to determine the sales policy and domestic purchase and sale price of wheat, while the export of wheat is completely controlled by the Wheat Board. Pakistan is known as the granary of South Asia. In terms of food regulation and management, they mainly strengthen the government's macro-control of agriculture by implementing protective prices for agricultural products.The country has set up the Agricultural Product Price Committee, which is affiliated to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, to reassess and review the price of agricultural products every year, and to determine the protection price of major agricultural products such as wheat.Usually at the end of August or early September each year, that is, before farmers start a new crop of sowing, the protective prices of various major agricultural products are announced to regulate the planting and production pattern from a macro perspective. South Korea is also a country with a low food self-sufficiency rate. They have also implemented a high subsidy policy similar to Japan's for food to maintain basic self-sufficiency.In terms of grain production, the government has set up a special fund to encourage the expansion of the scale of agricultural operations and the improvement of the quality of laborers, so as to increase the operating efficiency of grain.In terms of grain circulation, South Korea is also very strict in management like Japan. From the purchase, sale, storage and transportation of grain to operation and price, it is all under the strict control of the government.After the agreement reached in the Urakwe Round, South Korea was also under international pressure and partially liberalized the grain market in 1993, and the result was no exception.In the end, the prime minister and ministers all resigned to thank the people. It can be seen that no country in the world dares to take the food issue lightly. They all strictly control the production, consumption and circulation of food under the control of the government, and regulate and intervene in the food market with government actions and legal means.Although some countries talk about market liberalization, in fact no country can "free" the grain market at will.Of course, this kind of government management is not equivalent to the unified purchase and marketing policy under my country's planned economic system, but the government's macro-control and price intervention under the market economy.This is something we should learn from seriously.