70,000 rice-related businesses in Japan to be surveyed

The agriculture ministry will survey about 70,000 rice-related businesses across Japan to determine the status of their sales and inventory, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said Tuesday.

The survey will be the first conducted under the staple food law since rice distribution was substantially liberalized in 2004. The ministry’s aim is to determine the causes of rice shortages and price hikes.

Rice inventory surveys have been conducted on large rice collectors and wholesalers, but the ministry will expand the range to cover a much wider scope. It will ask the businesses involved to report on their collection of rice for distribution, purchases, sales and inventories as of the end of June.

“Why rice prices have skyrocketed is a matter of national concern. It is extremely important for us at the ministry to find out the reasons, so that we can win the public’s trust in our agricultural policy,” Koizumi said at a press conference after a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

Businesses that provide take-away services, restaurants and food-related retailers are also planned to be part of the survey. The ministry will conduct hearings to compile the findings at the end of July.

Tags: price, rice, Japan, inventory, businesses