WTO・食糧法体制下の米流通再編(WTO体制下の食料市場の構造,1997年度大会シンポジウム報告)

抄録

The purpose of this paper is to study the reorganization of the Japanese rice distribution system under the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the "Law for Stabilization of Supply/Demand and Price of Staple Food" (the Staple Food Law). While rice imports have an impact on domestic rice distribution in Japan under WTO, domestic deregulation of the rice market under the Staple Food Law has more impact on it. The characteristics of the reorganization of the rice distribution system under WTO and the Staple Food Law are as follows: 1) existing middle traders, including wholesalers and the KEIZAIREN (prefectural economic federations of agricultural cooperatives), are reorganized by supermarket chains initiating and using food and food material traders; 2) in that case, some big trading companies are playing the role of organizer of the recent rice distribution system including rice imports; 3) then the rice price is governed by the market which, in turn, allows for the supermarket chains to be the price makers of rice market pricing. In conclusion, the reorganization of the Japanese rice distribution system under WTO and the Staple Food Law is not "liberalization" or "diversification", but "organization" and "integration" by big companies under the free market economy.