Taipei fruit and vegetable market closed for too long, farmers' associations unhappy, Council of Agriculture cannot accept Taipei City Government's handling
The controversy triggered by the closure of the Taipei fruit and vegetable auction market has continued to escalate, with many local farmers' associations voicing furious complaints, saying that the surge in volume and price drops are not limited to the continuously harvested crops mentioned by the Meinong Farmers' Association.
Take Yilan white garlic as an example. Last year on February 27, the average auction price was 64 yuan per kilogram, but by the same day this year it had fallen to 21 yuan per kilogram. Farmers' association staff, facing farmers, had no way to express their bitterness, angrily saying, "It's more than a threefold difference. When farmers come to the farmers' association to ask, we simply don't know how to bring ourselves to quote vegetable prices to them." Some farmers' association staff also mentioned privately, "For Meinong, it was just that prices were bad. On the day in question, our farmers' association had a whole lot of shipments declared worthless. Farmers are already threatening to bring reporters to the farmers' association for interviews!"
Council of Agriculture: Cannot accept Taipei City Government's two consecutive market closures
In order to quickly quell the controversy, the Council of Agriculture specially held a meeting on March 1 to discuss the matter and issued a press release stating its position: "Regarding the Taipei fruit and vegetable wholesale market having two consecutive 3-day closures within a short period of 12 days, we express that we cannot accept it." When reporters sought further confirmation, Deputy Minister Chen Chi-chung also firmly stated: "The Council of Agriculture cannot accept the Taipei City Government Market Administration Office's arrangement of two 3-day closures within 12 days. This is not directed at the Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Corporation."
Zhong Qing-hui, director-general of the Meinong District Farmers' Association, who once served as a director of the Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Corporation (hereinafter referred to as "TAPMC"), said, "A market closure means the market shuts its doors, and everyone has absolutely no opportunity to buy or sell agricultural products. Therefore, the arrangement of market closures must be especially cautious." He repeatedly emphasized, "Once the market closes, and especially when it closes for three consecutive days, the ones who suffer most are, of course, the farmers who watch their crops grow every day but cannot ship them. Apart from worrying and being angry, farmers can do nothing at all!"
TAPMC mini-encyclopedia: The Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Corporation (hereinafter referred to as TAPMC) operates the "First Wholesale Market" and the "Second Wholesale Market," collectively known as the "Taipei Fruit and Vegetable Auction Market." It is the largest auction market in all of Taiwan, supplying fruits and vegetables daily to more than seven million people in greater Taipei and surrounding counties and cities. TAPMC has total capital of 200 million yuan and is a privately operated public utility with a board of directors that can operate independently. Private shares (farmers' associations at all levels) account for 54.48%, while public shares account for 45.52%. Among these, the Taipei City Government, the Council of Agriculture, and farmers' associations at all levels hold 22.76%, 22.76%, and 24.79% respectively, making for what could be called a "three-way division of power."
Because the Council of Agriculture and the Taipei City Government hold the same proportion of official shares, the past convention has been that the chairman of TAPMC is mostly appointed by the city government, while the general manager is appointed by the Council of Agriculture. In addition, because TAPMC is Taiwan's largest distribution center for fruits and vegetables by throughput, with an enormous impact on people's daily lives, the operation of the TAPMC company is always steeped in politics.
Farmers are helpless, market staff feel wronged. How should the market closure decision-making process be adjusted?
In the face of all this, including the farmers' bitterness and helplessness and the grievances of frontline market staff, is there really any way to avoid it? Can the mostly consensus-based market closure decision-making process be adjusted? Did TAPMC do a good job of emergency response measures that day?
Section Chief Gao Zhen-xiang of Taipei City said that TAPMC should fulfill its rapid distribution function and provide the latest information to the central Council of Agriculture in a timely manner, so that relevant units can jointly promote early-season production adjustment and same-day cargo volume dispersal. In response, Manager Wu Tian-ming of TAPMC replied, "More than 120 employees and cadres in the auction team were on site auctioning desperately and also desperately urging consignees to come in. No one dared leave their post."
Regarding the mostly consensus-based approach to market closure plans, Gao Zhen-xiang believes that when consumers go to the market to buy things, they usually buy enough chicken, duck, fish, meat, and all kinds of fruits and vegetables in one trip. If the market closures for fresh fruit, fish, and livestock are not unified, it will affect buying momentum in the end market. He said, "The overall benefit will differ. Unifying market closures as much as possible would be a more appropriate approach." But Manager Wu Tian-ming of TAPMC strongly stated that if the decision-making process remains one of unified market closures in the future, then as long as the issue involves a closure of more than two days, TAPMC will definitely insist on opposing it. "We must avoid such an impact happening again. Once was enough!"
Zhong Qing-hui: Open the doors of the fruit and vegetable market, and the market will naturally balance
Deputy Minister Chen Chi-chung of the Council of Agriculture emphasized that the characteristics of agricultural and grain crops are very different from those of fishery and livestock products. "At yesterday's (the 1st) emergency meeting between the Taipei City Government, the Agriculture and Food Agency, and TAPMC, I strongly stated that in the future it absolutely must not happen again that the market closes for three consecutive days or more. This has too great an impact on farmers." In addition, because this year's Mid-Autumn Festival also has three consecutive days off from September 24 to September 26, Chen Chi-chung said he had specially instructed at the meeting that the number of days of market closure for the Mid-Autumn Festival be adjusted earlier, and asked the participating units to take it back for discussion.
Zhong Qing-hui, director-general of the Meinong Farmers' Association, emphasized that the Taipei City Government's Market Administration Office must take both consumers and production areas into account. It cannot say that a majority consensus decision is necessarily correct; it must consider "the greatest public interest." He believes that except for the Lunar New Year, market closures should try not to exceed two days, because once the market closes for three days or more, the freshness of the fruits and vegetables consumers buy will definitely not be very good, while producers will also face the dilemma of having goods they cannot ship. He further explained, "A market closure means the market shuts its doors. Once the doors close, everyone loses their opportunity. Think about it: if the auction market stays open, farmers can decide for themselves whether to ship, and consignees can also decide whether to come in. But once the market closes, no one has any choice."
Zhong Qing-hui repeatedly said, "Open the doors of the fruit and vegetable market, and both volume and price will naturally return to the supply-and-demand mechanism and find a balance point."