농업구조조정과 직접지불제 개편 방안

Abstract

우리나라는 농업환경의 변화에 대응하여 시장개방과 구조조정을 추진하면서 직접지불제를 확대하는 농정개혁을 지속해왔다. 직접지불제는 시장개방에 따른 농가의 소득하락을 보전하는데 어느 정도 기여한 것으로 평가되고 있지만, 이로 인한 농업구조조정 지연과 재정의 비효율성에 대한 우려도 함께 제기되고 있다. 1997년 경영이양직불제가 처음 도입된 이후 여러 종류의 직불제가 시행중이지만, 쌀소득보전직불제가 중심이고 밭농업에 대한 지원이나 환경과 경관보전 등 다원적 기능을 진작하기 위한 지원은 미미한 편이다. 직불제의 정책효과와 지속가능성을 높이기 위해서는 농업발전과의 연계 속에서 보다 적극적인 기능을 부여하는 한편 국제 흐름과 규정에 맞추는 노력이 필요하다. EU, 일본 등 선진국에서는 특정 품목의 생산 여부나 시장가격 등과 연계되었던 직불제에서 점차 생산과 연계되지 않으며, 다원적 기능을 제고하고 경영위험을 감소시키는 기능을 중요시 하는 방향으로 정책을 전환하고 있다. 나아가 직불제 집행의 투명화와 단순화를 통하여 행정비용을 절감하고 사회적 공감 확대를 도모하고 있다. 이 연구보고서는 직불제와 관련된 여러 문제 중에서 소득보전과 안정을 위한 직접지불제의 파급영향과 문제점을 규명하고 국내외 여건 변화에 따른 농업발전의 과제 속에서 향후 직접지불제의 방향, 특히 농가단위 소득안정직접지불제의 도입방안을 제시하는 것을 목적으로 작성되었다. 이 보고서에는 외국의 직접지불제 동향, 직불제의 개편방향 그리고 농가단위의 직불제 도입방안 등에 대한 연구결과가 담겨있다.

Decoupling agricultural support from production decisions has become one of the central issues in agricultural policy, both nationally and internationally. The WTO proposed decoupled farm subsidies to support agricultural producers without distorting commodity production or trade. Prior to the WTO system, agricultural supports were provided to producers through target pricing or various input subsidy policies. The Korean government is expanding direct payments to keep the structural adjustment of agriculture on track for improving competitiveness and for stabilizing farm household income according to international trends. Although the direct payment may contribute to the stabilization of farm household income, this program is found to have limitations in improving the structure of agriculture. In this study, we investigated ways to reform agricultural policies on direct payments as surveys reveal that the agricultural structure changes along with the changes in domestic and foreign conditions. This study finds that it is desirable to reform the direct payment system under the following basic principles so that it can contribute to the agricultural development: first, conversion to farm household unit income stabilization method instead of commodity-based income stabilization; second, continuation of the coupled direct payment for the time being; and third, conversion to risk management and income stabilization instead of income support. Payments were triggered when average farm gross income fell below a predetermined reference gross income for an eligible commodity. However, it also enforces the adding up of the change of gross income by commodity in farm household units. The reference trigger is set at 90% of the reference gross income and the stabilization ratio is categorized according to gross income decrease ratio. If the reference trigger is too high, the responsibility consciousness of a farm household will be lowered and it will be hard to get an agreement from the non-agricultural sector. But if the reference trigger is too low, there will be few management stabilizing effects. The eligibility of participants should be open to all farm households. The maximum benefit per participant is set at 50 million won after considering the equity between large and small farm households and the equity with low-income non-agricultural workers. The administration imposes duty on eligible participants to raise policy participation and faithfully carry out management registration. The participation fee is set at 1~2% of the reference gross income to refund in case of cessation. As this policy is aimed at stabilizing farm household income, all agricultural commodities shall be included step by step by considering circumstantial conditions. First of all, soybeans, livestock products (dairy products excluded), and fruits will be the priority commodities. The nationwide statistics on these items with regard to such considerations as average price and yield can be obtained relatively easily, and the expected damage on these products from the Korea-US FTA is thought to be comparatively large. Also, we judge that an exception of non-commercial farms (below a meaningful level in farmhouse units) does not impede policy reform and can reduce administrative cost. Basically, the agricultural income stabilization program is an alternative to the direct payment program that is made to complement any losses that can be incurred from FTAs. Therefore, this program, a substitute to the current direct payment, can be introduced along with a farmhouse registration system when the Korea-US FTA or the DDA goes into effect. This program's integration with the direct payment program on rice, the largest farm income source, should also be considered. However, the integration can be reviewed after 2013 or 2014 when the target price of the rice direct payment program is recalculated.