Prime Minister Ishiba Orders Private Contracts
for Release of Government Stockpiled Rice
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has unusually expressed his determination to lower rice prices by specifically mentioning a target price for rice.
According to the Yomiuri Shimbun and other sources on May 22, Prime Minister Ishiba stated during a party leaders' debate in the National Diet on May 21 that the price of a 5kg bag of rice should be in the 3,000 yen range, and added that he would "take responsibility" if this was not achieved.
For the price of a 5kg bag of rice to fall into the 3,000 yen range, it would need to decrease by about 6.3% compared to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries' most recent survey. Currently, the average price of a 5kg bag of rice sold at supermarkets nationwide is 4,268 yen, double what it was a year ago.
Prime Minister Ishiba instructed the newly appointed Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Shinjiro Koizumi, to consider private contracts as a method for releasing government stockpiled rice. Since March this year, the Japanese government has been releasing stockpiled rice through a competitive bidding process. However, most of the rice has been won by the National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations (JA Zen-Noh) and has rarely reached the retail level, which has been identified as a problem.
The Yomiuri Shimbun and other outlets reported that if the method for releasing stockpiled rice shifts from competitive bidding to private contracts, the government may be able to select preferred companies and supply rice at relatively lower prices.
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