In 2015, the temporary corn purchase and storage policy continues to be implemented in Northeast China and Inner Mongolia

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, September 18 (Reporter Liu Yangyang) The National Development and Reform Commission, the State Administration of Grain, the Ministry of Finance, and the Agricultural Development Bank of China recently jointly issued a notice stating that in 2015 the state will continue to implement the temporary corn purchase and storage policy in the three northeastern provinces and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

It is learned that the purchase period for the state's temporary corn storage in 2015 is from November 1, 2015 to April 30, 2016. The listed purchase price for the state's temporary corn storage in 2015 (national standard third-class quality standard) is 1 yuan/jin, and the price difference between adjacent grades shall be controlled at 0.02 yuan per jin. The listed purchase price refers to the delivered purchase price at which purchase and storage depots directly purchase from farmers.

The notice requires that the state temporary storage corn purchased and put into storage must be domestic corn produced in 2015 and meet the quality standards for grades within the national standard. For non-standard corn whose actual moisture and impurity content is higher than the standard specified indicators, it must be dried or sun-dried and cleaned up to standard before it can be put into storage; corn that does not meet the standards must not be put into storage. For corn that does not meet the quality requirements, local governments shall organize purchases in accordance with the provincial governor responsibility system for grain security and the local responsibility system for food safety; among them, if the content of moldy kernels among imperfect kernels exceeds 2%, it shall be used according to the prescribed purpose.

According to the notice, Sinograin Corporation, entrusted by the state, serves as the main body for policy implementation and undertakes this state temporary purchase and storage task, purchasing surplus grain from farmers without limit through its directly affiliated enterprises and entrusted purchase and storage depots, so as to prevent farmers from “having difficulty selling grain”. COFCO Group, China National Textile and Apparel Council Group, and AVIC Industry Group, as supplementary forces to Sinograin Corporation, are entrusted by Sinograin Corporation to undertake purchase and storage tasks and independently obtain loans from the Agricultural Development Bank of China.

The notice makes clear that for acts such as purchase and storage depots falsely reporting inventory, passing off old grain as new, or purchasing imported corn to fraudulently obtain fee subsidies, once discovered, all the corn they purchased must be removed from the state temporary storage purchase progress and inventory statistics, the grain payment must be recovered and returned to the Agricultural Development Bank of China loan, the enterprise's temporary storage qualification must be cancelled, the improper gains must be recovered and turned over to the central finance, and the state temporary storage corn purchased and stored by them in previous years must be arranged for relocation or auctioned in a timely manner according to relevant procedures, with the costs incurred borne by the violating enterprise. If losses occur, they shall be borne by the purchase and storage depot, and the responsibility of its main person in charge, supervisory personnel, and relevant personnel shall be pursued.