Minju: "Amendment to the Grain Management Act Submitted to the Plenary Session... Will Be Processed on the 24th"

Acceptance of Chairman's Amendments, Reflection of Government Discretion Range
Excess Production 3-5%, Price Decline 5-8%

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] The Democratic Party of Korea announced that it will submit a revised bill reflecting the mediation proposal of National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo regarding the Grain Management Act to the plenary session of the National Assembly. The revised bill includes provisions to broaden the scope of production volume criteria for mandatory government purchase, granting discretionary power.

On the 23rd, Kim Seong-hwan, chairman of the Policy Committee, held a press conference at the National Assembly and stated, "We have decided to submit the revised bill to the plenary session after incorporating the Speaker's modification suggestions," adding, "The main points of the revision are to adjust the excess production volume threshold from 3% or more to '3~5%' and the price decline range from 5% to '5~8%'." The Democratic Party plans to have the revised bill processed at the plenary sessions on the 24th and 27th.

The Grain Management Act mandates that the government must purchase rice when the excess production volume exceeds 3% compared to demand or when rice prices fall by more than 5% compared to the previous year, aiming to stabilize rice prices. The government and the ruling party opposed this due to reasons such as increased rice production, and the Speaker proposed a mediation plan to both ruling and opposition parties.

Chairman Kim explained the purpose of the revision, saying, "The main criticism from the government and ruling party is that mandatory purchase of surplus grain would increase production itself, so if the rice cultivation area expands, the government can exercise discretion not to purchase," adding, "Although we do not expect production to increase, we have granted discretionary power just in case it does."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He continued, "We will also propose a revision granting local governments discretionary power to reduce or cut market isolation quantities in response to increases in rice cultivation areas," and added, "We aim to have this processed at the plenary session on the 24th or 27th."

Regarding this, Democratic Party lawmaker Wi Seong-gon, a member of the Agriculture, Forestry, Livestock, Food, and Fisheries Committee, explained, "The Speaker's proposal is to relax the market isolation requirements," and said, "We accepted it as it makes sense to create room for the government. The government can choose within the 3~5% range and also within the 5~8% range."

Democratic Party lawmaker Shin Jeong-hoon also said, "There could be some misunderstanding about the purpose of the Grain Management Act and the current situation, so we reconsidered and gathered opinions after receiving the Speaker's announcement," adding, "As Minister Jeong Hwang-geun of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said, this is not a request for unlimited purchase."

He added, "The government’s discretionary scope has been increased, allowing it to manage and select based on production volume and price collapse," and "Since this is premised on cultivating alternative crops, overproduction can be prevented in advance."

Chairman Kim concluded, "I sincerely hope that the People Power Party will actively review the Speaker’s proposed revisions so that our party’s proposal is not unilaterally processed and that President Yoon Seok-youl does not exercise a veto on the bill, causing farmers’ hearts to burn with frustration."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.