The amendment to the Grain Management Act and the amendment to the Agricultural and Fisheries Product Distribution and Price Stabilization Act (Agricultural and Fisheries Product Act) passed the National Assembly plenary session on the 4th. The two bills had been discarded twice after the Yoon Suk-yeol government exercised its right to request reconsideration (veto) due to financial burdens.
The National Assembly held a plenary session at 2 p.m. on the same day, approving the amendment to the Grain Management Act with 199 votes in favor, 15 votes against, and 22 abstentions out of 236 members present. The amendment to the Agricultural and Fisheries Product Act passed the National Assembly plenary session with 205 votes in favor, 13 votes against, and 19 abstentions out of 237 members present.
The amendment to the Grain Management Act stipulates that the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs must establish a supply and demand plan for grains and creates a "Grain Supply and Demand Management Committee" to review important matters related to grain supply and demand policy. It includes provisions that in cases where the price of rice drops below a certain standard or in cases of excess production, the grain supply and demand management committee will establish and implement supply stabilization measures including procurement based on its reviews.
The amendment to the Agricultural and Fisheries Product Act requires the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Minister of Oceans and Fisheries to establish annual supply and demand plans for agricultural and fisheries products. It also includes provisions for operating a "Price Stabilization System for Agricultural and Fisheries Products" that provides all or part of the difference between the average price and the benchmark price for targeted items such as grains, vegetables, and fish to agricultural and fisheries product producers. The benchmark price applicable for the subsidy is determined by presidential decree.
The two bills passed the National Assembly's Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans, and Fisheries Committee, which is in charge of the relevant matters, by agreement of both ruling and opposition parties. The Democratic Party of Korea added provisions to the bill requested by the People Power Party, such as financial support for farmers cultivating crops other than rice and strengthened criteria for the government's mandatory procurement to minimize the side effects of overproduction.
Jung Hee-yong, a member of the People Power Party and the opposition party's secretary of the Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans, and Fisheries Committee, noted on the 29th of last month, "The government has prepared proactive supply management and post-event measures, making it more lenient than the previous proposal," adding, "The amendments to the Grain Management Act and the Agricultural and Fisheries Product Act have been significantly eased compared to when the veto was exercised on the bills in the past, recognizing proactive supply management and government discretion."