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[더셀럽 김희서 기자] The current situation and background of the “auction-centric” distribution structure of the wholesale public market is for whom and why the introduction of a competitive system for producers and consumers is not carried out in depth.
In KBS1’s ‘Pre-Planning Window’, broadcast on the 19th, ‘The Secret of Farm Product Prices, Who Makes Money?’ The side is drawn.
A couple who were farming on Jeju Island last year took their own lives. Although they carefully cultivated agricultural products, they were experiencing financial difficulties because they could not find a market. It’s not just a couple’s problem that they have a hard time finding a market for produce like this or that they don’t get the right price. Even after a good harvest, the so-called ‘mountainous area removal’ is repeated in the fields of rural areas.
‘Why don’t farmers get their price? Who determines the price of agricultural products and how? To find the answer to this question, a KBS reporter harvested cabbages and potatoes directly in Gangwon-do and shipped them to Garak Market, Seoul, Korea’s central public wholesale market. However, for each affiliate in the wholesale market that organizes the auction, the price of new potatoes varies 4.5 times, from 7,000 to 32,000 won per 20 kilogram box. The 12 cabbage specialty also ranged from 6,500 won to 11,000 won. Although they were selected and shipped in the same field and in similar sizes, the prices were different for each wholesale market corporation and auction company.
As a result of collecting and analyzing data on 13 fruit and vegetable items marketed at the Garak market in Seoul in September, the report team found that 33% of the total 220,000 cases were successful within 3 seconds. In addition, more than 8,000 boxes were auctioned in one second. It was confirmed that there were even cases where an auctioneer called a specific intermediary separately to conduct a 1: 1 auction. The auction system is that suspicious transactions, which are different from the belief that the pricing process is transparent and fair, they are being carried out in the public wholesale market.
In public wholesale markets, wholesale market corporations are responsible for conducting auctions on behalf of local governments. Regardless of fluctuations in farm product prices, they charge up to 7% of the winning bid as commission and earn hundreds of billions of won each year. Once designated as a wholesale market corporation, there is no fear of withdrawal unless there is any other reason. So the wholesale market corporation at the Garak market in Seoul is trading for tens of billions of won, and the major shareholders are construction companies and steel companies that are not related to agriculture.
Some academic experts, farmers and consumer groups continue to urge the introduction of a competitive system in the public wholesale market, such as the ‘Market Wholesale System’, in which producers can participate in the process of determining agricultural products and reduce the distribution stage. However, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has been passive in introducing the “wholesale market system” for more than 20 years, even though the current law has laid the groundwork. Furthermore, related laws have been revised one after another with content that solidifies the position of the corporations in the wholesale market.
The ‘Current Planning Window’ airs every Saturday at 8:05 pm.
[더셀럽 김희서 기자 [email protected] / 사진=KBS 제공]