The Current State and Confusion of Salt Reform Recently, operators of supermarkets and shops in Xiangcheng City, Henan, reported to the media that the Xiangcheng City Salt Bureau illegally seized edible salt of other brands citywide, vigorously promoting its own packaged salt. Subsequently, reporters went to the local Salt Administration Bureau to verify the matter, and the bureau chief said: "Reporters have no right to supervise me." The Salt Bureau is the main department in charge of salt work, with the lowest administrative level at the county (district) level. Xiangcheng is a county-level city under Zhoukou, and the local salt bureau chief's role is nothing special, so why can't he be supervised? But on the other hand, being unaccustomed to public opinion supervision precisely indicates that it has long been游离于监督之外, having lived a life without supervision. Similarly, seizing salt of other brands shows an inability to adapt to the salt reform policy. In the past, a major feature of the salt monopoly system was regional monopoly, and the salt bureau never had to worry about competition. Now, salt reform is attempting to break regional monopolies, first by forcing them out of their "comfort zone" into market competition. Many people find it hard to accept this at first, which is normal. If you look closely, since the promotion of salt reform, news of salt seizures across the country has been quite frequent. For example, hundreds of tons of salt shipped by Chongqing Salt Industry Group to southern Zunyi were seized and detained by the local salt administration bureau for over a month; the Xinye County Salt Bureau in Henan also seized 30 tons of refined salt from Feicheng, Shandong. The reasons are varied: some say cross-regional operations are non-compliant because the newly implemented "Salt Industry System Reform Plan" temporarily does not support provincial-level and below salt enterprises from operating across provinces; others cite salt safety issues, labeling cross-regional salt as "iodine-free salt" or "industrial salt"; some salt bureaus use "transport permits" as a pretext to block foreign enterprises in salt circulation. In short, seize first, and talk about problems later, often followed by a "delay tactic" that drags some enterprises to the brink. The two biggest features of the new salt policy are the abolition of price controls and the liberalization of salt circulation. Among them, maintaining circulation is a prerequisite; as long as salt can circulate freely, prices can fully reflect market conditions. But it is precisely on the issue of cross-regional circulation that the new salt policy has encountered "sniping." In the most traditional salt monopoly system, the condition for achieving circulation control was certificates, such as transport permits, indicating the wholesale and sales locations; if they didn't match, it was considered selling private salt. In a series of salt reform policies, a main idea was to abolish these certificates. However, although the certificates have been abolished, the endless salt seizures and the reasons used by salt bureaus prove that the problem may lie deeper: as long as there is a conflict with the local interests of the salt bureau, it can use hundreds of reasons to restrain you. Currently, many places have their own local salt. If cross-regional circulation can be achieved, some local salt enterprises could grow, some might go bankrupt, and some might merge. But the key issue is that salt circulation cannot completely bypass the salt bureau; it still requires local salt bureau review and licensing. This "cannot bypass" is partly due to salt safety considerations and partly due to the transitional nature of the reform. Nationwide, salt bureaus are divided into provincial, municipal, and county levels, and in each locality, they operate as "two brands, one team," which is a "iron rice bowl" for many people! It is precisely because of interest conflicts that the new policy has imposed some restrictions on cross-regional circulation. But it may not have anticipated that many local salt bureaus, long entrenched as local powers, would have such strong resistance to the salt industry system reform. For some salt bureaus with solidified interests, they often use various reasons to block foreign salt. For salt enterprises interested in cross-regional operations, after experiencing seizures, they may lose enthusiasm and stop trying. The difficulty of salt reform, on the surface, lies in price controls and planned distribution, but in reality, it lies in regional monopoly and interest constraints. If we do not start by breaking the interests of local salt bureaus and unblocking salt circulation channels, the effect of salt reform may not be optimistic, and incidents like "reporters have no right to supervise" may recur. Extended Reading: China Salt and Local Salt Bureaus Clash Intensifies. Barriers to cross-regional salt operations have led to local salt bureaus seizing each other's provincial salt, sparking a melee of local salt monopoly protectionism. The former interest alliance has collapsed in the face of salt reform. To protect provincial salt interests, they do not hesitate to use administrative power to attack opponents. The contradiction between China's salt industry leader, China Salt Corporation, and the Jiangsu Provincial Salt Bureau has suddenly surfaced, with fierce fighting. After the Jiangsu Provincial Salt Administration issued a notice listing five salt production enterprises, including China Salt Shanghai Company and China Salt Dongxing Company, as having unqualified products or illegal operations, the hidden battle between two major interest groups behind the reform curtain finally surfaced, and the conflict between China Salt's salt-making enterprises and the Jiangsu Salt Bureau became completely public. This all stems from March 13, when the Jiangsu Provincial Salt Administration issued to municipal salt administrations the "Notice on Publishing the List of Enterprises Suspected of Illegal and Non-compliant Salt Operations in Jiangsu Province" (Shu Yan [2017] No. 9), listing China Salt Shanghai Company, China Salt Dongxing Company, local salt enterprises Tangshan Tangfeng Salt Industry, and Jiuda Yingcheng Salt Company as enterprises illegally operating salt in Jiangsu. China Salt Shanghai Company, China Salt Dongxing Company, local salt enterprises Tangshan Tangfeng Salt Industry, and Jiuda Yingcheng Salt Company have all issued official statements condemning the Jiangsu Salt Bureau, vowing not to stop until they win the lawsuit.
China Salt Dongxing Salt and Chemical Co., Ltd. Solemn Statement
China Salt Shanghai Salt Company Solemn Statement
Tangshan Tangfeng Salt Industry Solemn Statement
Jiuda Yingcheng Salt Company Official Statement
If previously the salt-grabbing game between local salt bureaus and salt-making enterprises in the Jiangsu market was hidden, euphemistic, or at least used the name of 'suspected' to seize salt, now the salt administration work in Jiangsu no longer needs to be so euphemistic. The reason is simple: with the superior document, they can roll up their sleeves and act directly, because the Jiangsu Provincial Salt Bureau has issued an official document stating that products from China Salt, Jiuda, and Tangfeng can be temporarily seized and confiscated. But will the five salt-making enterprises on the blacklist just sit back and be at the mercy of Jiangsu salt administration? Four enterprises have issued statements vowing to fight to the end and use the law to counter local protectionism. Remember, China Salt Corporation is the king of the domestic salt industry. To touch its interests is audacious. In the past, China Salt supported everyone in the salt monopoly interests. Now attacking China Salt is like challenging the tiger's might; China Salt's influence is not for show. It is believed that the two sides will soon tear off their masks and face each other in court, and the century-old salt reform battle will soon begin. Source: Consumer Daily Exposure, China Condiment Industry Association -END-