Nine departments including the Ministry of Agriculture proposed making farmer cooperatives that operate in compliance with standards a key focus of support
This website news Recently, nine departments of the national inter-ministerial joint conference on farmer cooperative development, including the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Finance, jointly issued the "Opinions on Guiding and Promoting the Standardized Development of Farmer Cooperatives" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions"), requiring departments at all levels and in all relevant fields to place greater emphasis on strengthening the standardized development of farmer cooperatives and to make farmer cooperatives that operate in compliance with standards a key focus of policy support.
The "Opinions" proposed that, in accordance with the requirements of “serving farmers, freedom of entry and exit, equal rights, and democratic management,” efforts should uphold the principal position of farmers, adhere to classified guidance, adhere to demonstration by typical examples, and adhere to combining market guidance with government supervision, so as to strengthen the standardized development of cooperatives. Within about 5 years, more than 70% of cooperatives should have complete member accounts, practice openness in cooperative affairs, and distribute surpluses according to law, with more than 200,000 demonstration cooperatives at or above the county level, and a significant improvement in the quality of cooperative development.
⟦NL> The "Opinions" clarified the main tasks for standardizing cooperative development. Cooperatives are required to give play to the regulatory role of their charters, register according to law, clarify property rights relationships, improve organizational structures that coordinate and operate smoothly, strengthen financial management systems, establish member accounts and management archives, distribute returns fairly and reasonably, regularly disclose cooperative affairs, adhere to honest operations, steadily carry out credit cooperation, and advance informatization.
The "Opinions" require giving full play to the incentive and guiding role of policies, further improving support policies for finance, taxation, and banking, and focusing support on cooperatives that operate in compliance with standards. Financial departments at all levels should increase funds for cooperative development, expand the scale of agriculture- and forestry-related projects such as rural land consolidation and comprehensive agricultural development undertaken by cooperatives, allow fiscal project funds to be invested directly in eligible cooperatives, and allow assets formed by fiscal subsidies to be transferred to cooperatives for holding and management. Implement and improve preferential tax policies for cooperatives and support cooperatives in developing the production, processing, and circulation of agricultural products. For cooperatives with relatively high credit ratings, implement positive incentive measures under equal conditions, provide loan guarantee services, and in areas where conditions permit, provide loan interest subsidies and innovate insurance products and services suited to the production and operation characteristics of cooperatives. Land used for cooperative production facilities and ancillary facilities shall be managed as agricultural land. In the national annual construction land quota, a certain proportion shall be separately listed specifically for supporting auxiliary facilities built by new types of agricultural business entities such as cooperatives. Water and electricity used by cooperatives for planting and breeding, as well as electricity used by their members for preliminary processing of agricultural products, shall be charged according to the relevant prices for agricultural production.
The "Opinions" emphasized that it is necessary to strengthen organizational leadership, strengthen guidance and services, and improve the working mechanism for promoting the sustained and healthy development of cooperatives. Member units of the national inter-ministerial joint conference on farmer cooperative development are required to give full play to their functional roles, and localities should establish corresponding working mechanisms, clarify and implement their respective responsibilities, and jointly promote the standardized development of cooperatives. Strengthen the building of the cooperative instructor team and establish a multi-level guidance and service system. Deeply carry out demonstration cooperative development actions, actively carry out demonstration cooperative assessment, establish demonstration cooperative directories, implement dynamic monitoring of demonstration cooperatives, and guide and drive the standardized development of cooperatives. Adhere to combining internal training with external introduction, strengthen the building of the cooperative talent team, and continuously improve the level of cooperative operation and management.