Monitoring of Demonstration Farmers' Cooperatives Officially Launched

The reporter learned from the Ministry of Agriculture that, in accordance with the requirements of the national inter-ministerial joint conference on farmer cooperative development, the Ministry of Agriculture decided to carry out monitoring work for demonstration specialized farmer cooperatives, and recently issued the "Notice on Carrying Out Monitoring Work for Demonstration Specialized Farmer Cooperatives." The Notice requires a comprehensive evaluation of the operation of demonstration cooperatives; those that fail monitoring will have their demonstration cooperative status revoked, so as to ensure the advanced nature and representativeness of national demonstration cooperatives and to build them into brands, models of the cooperative economy, and pioneers of modern agriculture.

The Notice points out that the 6663 demonstration specialized farmer cooperatives jointly assessed at the end of 2011 by 12 departments and units, including the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Water Resources, the State Administration of Taxation, and the China Banking Regulatory Commission, all fall within the scope of monitoring. Monitoring standards were also put forward: "meeting the national demonstration cooperative standards stipulated in Article 5 of the Assessment Measures, including lawful registration and establishment, democratic management, standardized financial management, relatively strong economic strength, notable service results, safe product (service) quality, and good social reputation; and, in accordance with the provisions of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce's Interim Measures for the Annual Report Public Disclosure of Farmer Cooperatives, lawfully conducting annual report public disclosure before June 30, 2015, with no abnormal business circumstances."

The Notice requires all provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) to submit the "Monitoring Form for the Development of Demonstration Specialized Farmer Cooperatives" and other relevant materials to the office of the national joint conference before August 10, 2015.

The Notice also clearly states that for the number of demonstration cooperatives eliminated, no replacements will be made in this monitoring round; an equal number will be added in the next assessment.