산지유통인의 법인화와 계약재배 참여방안 연구

Abstract

농산물의 유통환경이 급격하게 변화함에도 불구하고 산지단계에서는 여전히 수집 및 출하기능을 담당하는 산지유통인의 역할이 매우 높은 비중을 차지하고 있다. 산지유통인은 개별 상인입장에서 산지유통에 참여하는 전문적인 산지수집상으로 주로 배추와 무 같은 노지채소의 포전거래에 참여하여 산지 생산량의 70~90%를 취급하고 있다. 산지유통인에 의한 포전거래는 농가입장에서 가격위험 회피수단, 미래가격 발견, 수급 및 생산조절, 농가소득 안정 및 노동력 부족 문제 해소 등의 경제적 기능이 있는 것으로 나타나고 있다. 그러나 포전거래는 계약의 불안정성, 농협 계약재배의 비활성화, 농가의 투기 조장과 정부정책의 신뢰도 저하, 산지유통인의 기능 한계 등의 역기능도 다양하게 나타나고 있다. 따라서 기존 개별상인 중심의 산지유통인을 조직화(법인화)하여 산지유통 활동과 거래행위에 대한 정보를 공개하고, 거래형태를 정형화된 계약재배 중심으로 전환시킴으로써 유통참여자와 정부정책 담당자의 합리적인 의사결정이 이루어지도록 할 필요가 있다. 이 연구는 포전거래에 참여하는 산지유통인과 농가에 대한 직접조사를 통해 산지유통인의 효율적인 법인화 방향과 계약재배 참여방안을 제시하였다.

The purpose of this study is to find out economic functions of agricultural produce traders in production areas and analyze advantages and disadvantages of the forward contract commonly known as 'batteggi' for lump-sum buying and selling of agricultural produce on a future date. This study also suggests various ways of incorporating the traders into an organization and improving the trading method based on surveys of farmers and the traders. Agricultural produce traders, along with producer organizations, are a key player in the supply of agricultural produce. They collect and ship agricultural produce on behalf of small farmers, handling as much as 70-90% of the total transaction volume of major field vegetables. According to a survey by the national association of agricultural produce traders and the data on the traders who are registered with retail markets, it is estimated that there are about 5,000 to 5,500 agricultural produce traders in the country, and the market value of fruit and vegetables they have traded in 2009 is estimated at more than 3.7 trillion won. There are various economic functions of a forward contract. These include price hedging, future price setting, supply and production control, price risk management for consumers, provision of opportunities to gain speculative profits, playing the role of a supply channel, making the shipment system efficient, increase in social welfare, mitigation of price volatility, stabilization of income, provision of private finance, credit enhancement, elimination of labor shortage in farms, and playing the role of a future contract. But there are also problems with the forward contract. Since the forward contract is a non-standardized contract, it distorts the market and discourages Nonghyup's contract cultivation. Also, it encourages speculation by farmers and lowers the credibility of government policies. Incorporation of local agricultural produce traders can take various forms, such as a corporation co-invested by the current trader association and related businesses, a corporation invested by large traders, a corporation co-founded with Nonghyup, a corporation jointly invested by producers and traders, and a corporation co-invested with a food company. There could be various ways of promoting the incorporation. These include switching the beneficiary of the current logistical support from individual traders to corporations, provision of the logistical support fund to local distribution corporations by making them eligible to receive financial support through the projects aimed at stimulating local logistics and stabilizing the supply of agricultural produce, provision of various types of logistical support to distribution corporations, and promotion of checkoff organizations and commodity-based associations. Also, some improvements may be considered with respect to the forward contract. For example, breaching the contract may be banned by law and the downpayment may be eliminated by readjusting the penalty for breaching the contract to a realistic level. As for prerequisites to improving the forward contract, the following measures can be considered: standardization of the contract in a written format, disclosure of all information related to forward transactions, construction of a dispute settlement system for agricultural forward contracts, evaluation and provision of credit rating of contract parties, and standardization of the contract. Researchers: Jeon Chang-Gon, Choi Byung-Ok, Kim Dong-HoonE-mail address: cgjeon@krei.re.kr