The revised law will explicitly stipulate the long-standing policy of promoting rice

Japanese government approves bill to boost demand-based rice production
The governments latest revisions to the staple food law reflects lessons from severe rice shortages that began in summer 2024
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The government Friday adopted a bill to revise the staple food law to require rice producers to make proactive efforts to align their production with demand.The current law to ensure supply and price stability for staple crops has provisions on production adjustment including numerical targets, even after the government abolished its "gentan" rice acreage reduction policy in 2018.According to the bill, the provisions will be removed
Instead, the revised law will explicitly stipulate the government's long-standing policy of promoting rice production that matches demand, with the aim of preventing price declines due to oversupply.The bill also includes a measure to reform the rice stockpiling system, envisioning the establishment of a new framework that would have the private sector manage part of the national rice reserves.The revision will allow the government to release stockpiled rice when supply shortages arise due to strong demand, not only when rice production declines.To facilitate swift releases of stockpiled rice, the bill calls for establishing a framework that would oblige large-scale rice distributors, such as collectors and wholesalers, to maintain certain levels of reserves.Additionally, some companies involved in rice shipments and sales and some restaurant businesses would be obliged to register as rice-handling entities that must regularly report their inventory, shipments and sales data.The move reflects lessons from severe rice shortages that began in summer 2024
At that time, the government failed to fully grasp the status of rice distribution due to the increasingly diversified distribution system.

KEYWORDS
food(https://www.japantimes.co.jp/tag/food), rice(https://www.japantimes.co.jp/tag/rice)
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