Fertilizer industry legislation is imperative

Business News Agency reported on July 12th at the National Soil Testing and Formula Fertilization Working Conference held recently. Professor Zhang Fusuo of the College of Resources and Environment of China Agricultural University proposed that modern agriculture requires not only modern fertilization technologies and products, but also the corresponding fertilizer policies, regulations and nutrients. Management law. In recent years, soil and fertilizer experts have repeatedly proposed legislative proposals for the fertilizer industry.

Since the reform and opening up, China's fertilizer industry has entered the development stage of blowouts and is known as the world's largest fertilizer market. Data show that from January to December 2011, China's fertilizer output was 60.27 million tons, an increase of 12.1%; among which nitrogen fertilizer, phosphate fertilizer, and potassium fertilizer output increased by 8.6%, 24.3%, and 10.8%, respectively. It is worth noting that the development of the fertilizer industry has contributed immensely to increasing grain production and increasing farmers' income, but we have consumed one-third of the world's fertilizer.

Of these, there are of course unscientific fertilization factors, but the more important reason is that the fertilizer market itself is in a state of lack of legal regulation. The production and sales of products are not completely in line with the wishes of farmers, the needs of the rural market, and the requirements of agricultural production. Some fertilizer production companies only care about product sales. Regardless of the actual fertilizer efficiency, they are caught in disorderly competition and are in a state of war. There is no clear norm. Statistics show that in the past 10 years, net increase of compound fertilizer accounted for 68% of net increase in fertilizer, and compound fertilizer accounted for half of fertilizer. There are more than 4100 national compound fertilizer enterprises and more than 32,000 products, but most compound fertilizers do not increase production. Instead, it wastes nutrients and increases farmers' spending. Each year, only 3 million tons of nutrients are wasted on food, worth 25.8 billion yuan.

Compared with agricultural products such as seeds and pesticides, which have already been established by relevant laws, the legal system for fertilizers appears to be seriously lagging behind. There has not been a professional law related to fertilizers so far. The only “Regulations for the Administration of Registration of Fertilizers” is the one promulgated by the Ministry of Agriculture. . The lag in the construction of the legal system for the fertilizer industry has brought a series of problems to agricultural development.

The lag in the construction of the legal system for the fertilizer industry led to the unclear supervision of the main body, the oversight of fertilizer management, the unclear responsibilities and the lack of supervision. The quality supervision department is based on the “Product Quality Law of the People's Republic of China”, and the industrial and commercial department can manage the production and sales of fertilizer according to the “People’s Republic of China Industrial and Commercial Law”. At the same time, the agricultural sector can regularly supervise and randomize agricultural products such as fertilizers according to the "Agricultural Product Quality Safety Law," and announce the results of random inspections, but it does not mention the power of punishment. In addition, the development, environmental protection and other departments are also conducting fertilizer supervision and management work in accordance with the laws and regulations in their respective fields. Problems such as multiple government affairs, overlapping functions, unclear responsibilities, and lack of supervision often occur.

The lag in the construction of the legal system for the fertilizer industry has led to confusion in the fertilizer market, the lack of corporate integrity and a sense of responsibility. A small number of fertilizer companies are free to advertise or exaggerate their effectiveness in order to increase sales and influence. What is more, the fertilizer production technology that has been eliminated by the developed countries several decades ago was introduced into the country, and harmful substances were used as raw materials or components of fertilizers, causing huge losses to farmers. According to the internal fertilization quality testing department of the National Agricultural Technology Promotion Center, the qualified rate of nitrogen fertilizer, phosphate fertilizer, and potash fertilizer in the fertilizer market is relatively high, but the pass rate of other varieties is not optimistic.

Therefore, the legislation of the fertilizer industry is imperative. Through legislation to strengthen fertilizer production, sales and use management, and create a good environment for fertilizer production and consumption, it is of great significance to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of farmers and ensure food security. The content of the fertilizer legislation must include the management of all fertilizers, and clearly lead the competent authorities, not only to unify the registration, production, management, use, and supervision and management of fertilizers, but also to establish top-down vertical management and supervision agencies. Regulate the market order and avoid the phenomenon of multi-headed management. In addition, because the evaluation criteria for fertilizers are relatively difficult to formulate, their effects are often an implicit process, and the opinions of ordinary farmers should be widely sought in the legislative process.