The threshold for grain purchasing permits should not be set too high

Take the overall view and do the big accounting, find the balance point of interests of all parties; there must be strict supervision, but the "fences" should also be removed, giving all kinds of market entities in grain purchasing more space

It is early rice purchasing season in the south. A couple of days ago, a relative back home called to complain: Strange! Why are there no grain traders coming to the door this year? Surely we won't have to line up for a long time at the grain station to sell grain like before?

The relative does not farm much land, and for him it is more convenient to sell grain to grain traders. He said that when the grain station buys grain, it has high requirements for test weight, moisture and so on, and if you run into someone with a bad attitude, selling grain is like begging someone for a favor. When grain traders come to the door to buy grain, although the price is a bit lower, drying, removing impurities and so on are all done by the traders after they take it back, so farmers do not have to line up for a long time at the grain station and be treated coldly. "The money lost from selling grain for less can be made up by one day of work, but I can avoid a lot of suffering."

There may be many reasons why fewer grain traders come to buy at the door, but the difficulty of getting a permit should be one of them. This brings to mind the case not long ago in which a farmer in a certain place was sentenced to criminal punishment for purchasing corn without a permit. Many people believe that individual grain traders buying grain from farmers and then selling it to grain stations to earn a small price difference should not be treated as a criminal matter. Some also ask whether the entry threshold can be lowered to give all kinds of market entities in grain purchasing more space. These voices reflect from one side the expectations of all sectors of society for continuing to deepen the reform of the grain circulation system.

In fact, from the abolition of grain coupons in 1995, which completely ended the 40-year system of unified purchase and sale of grain, to the 2004 No. 1 Central Document clearly stating a full opening of the grain purchase and sale market, the steps of China's grain circulation system reform have not been small. In recent years, grain enterprises, grain brokers and other new types of market entities have developed rapidly, playing an important role in smoothing grain circulation channels and making it easier for farmers to sell grain. But with the emergence of new problems and new situations such as the inversion of domestic and international grain prices and persistently high grain inventories, new requirements have been put forward for the reform of the grain circulation system.

Grain circulation cannot do without a threshold. According to the current "Regulations on the Administration of Grain Circulation", operators engaged in grain purchasing activities should have the ability to raise funds, have the necessary grain storage facilities, have the corresponding grain quality inspection and preservation capabilities, and must obtain a permit upon approval. In actual practice, many places also require a fixed site, purchasing points, a not-low registered capital, and so on. Meeting these requirements may not be very difficult for grain purchase and sale enterprises, but many individual grain brokers simply cannot meet them, while farmers very much need them, so the phenomenon of individual grain traders purchasing grain without a permit is relatively common in rural areas.

When grain brokers buy grain, in the end they still sell it to grain stations and grain enterprises. As long as they are well guided and well supervised, it will not affect the order of the grain circulation market; on the contrary, they are a beneficial supplement to the market entities in the grain purchase and sale market. At a time when vigorously advancing the streamlining of administration and delegation of power, can the threshold for grain traders to obtain a grain purchasing permit be lowered a bit? Can the procedures be made more convenient? Can the permit system be changed to a filing and registration system? These questions are all worth careful study by the relevant departments.

At present, comprehensively deepening reform has entered a critical period. Reform must precisely align with what development requires, what the grassroots hope for, and what the people want, so that it can be better advanced. In fact, there are quite a few phenomena similar to grain brokers purchasing grain without a permit, where the people have demand, the practice already exists widely in reality, and although there is conflict with the current system, the risk is controllable. Blocking them may be ineffective; on the contrary, guiding them may be effective. Taking the overall view and doing the big accounting, finding the balance point of interests of all parties, and through pilot programs and improvements raising them into laws and regulations, this is how deepening reform can find more breakthroughs.

Grain circulation requires both strict supervision and the removal of "fences". Only by lowering the threshold for grain purchasing permits can more grain brokers travel light. Of course, while reform is being advanced, the level of management and service must not be lowered. How to supervise grain brokers well and protect the interests of grain farmers is the direction of the next step. As purchasing entities such as grain brokers, they should also, while making things convenient for farmers and earning a reasonable price difference, operate in good faith and jointly maintain good order in the grain purchasing market.