The salt reform has entered its second year. According to the salt reform timetable, 2017 should have completed the separation of government and enterprise. This is also the most fundamental goal of the salt reform: to ensure a fair competitive environment in the salt market. So in the last few months of 2017, provinces and cities frequently announced the abolition of salt bureaus and the completion of function handovers. But after entering 2018, foreign salt still faced 'advance registration and preservation' treatment. The 'salt seizure' incidents have made salt manufacturers and distributors anxious—could the salt reform be 'delayed'? ■ Source: Condiment Business Circle (ID: twpsq0909) 1 After separation of government and enterprise, 'salt seizure' incidents still occur ▼ On January 1, 2018, a penalty notice caused an uproar in the salt industry. The notice came from Yuncheng County, Shandong. The local salt bureau, citing illegal salt business, imposed 'advance registration and preservation' on a distributor's salt, based on Article 34, Item (2) of the 'Shandong Province Salt Industry Management Regulations'. "Wasn't the separation of government and enterprise in the salt reform supposed to be completed before December 31, 2017? Why can the salt bureau still 'seize salt' in 2018?" said a salt distributor. This is not an isolated case. On December 30, two similar messages caused much speculation in the industry: Is the salt reform going to be 'delayed'? The first was the reply from Yishui County People's Government to the Yishui County Salt Bureau, 'Request for Continuing to Perform Salt Supervision Functions during the Transition Period of Regulatory System Reform'. The main content: during the transition period of the county's salt supervision system reform, the existing supervision system and division of responsibilities remain unchanged; relevant law enforcement personnel retain their enforcement qualifications; the salt bureau must strictly enforce laws and regulations, strengthen communication with food and drug supervision, public security, and other relevant departments, to ensure the stability of the county's salt market and salt safety. The second was the reply from Zaozhuang Municipal People's Government to the Zaozhuang Salt Bureau: 'During the adjustment period of the city and district (city) two-level salt safety supervision functions, agree to continue exercising salt quality safety management and supervision functions; administrative law enforcement personnel should carry out law enforcement work strictly in accordance with relevant laws, regulations, and rules.' The date was December 27. Regarding the phrase 'during the transition period of the county salt supervision system reform' in the reply from Yishui County People's Government, we can understand that it does not contradict the salt reform content. However, Yuncheng County was still seizing salt on January 1, 2018. This makes salt enterprises and distributors anxious. "When selling goods, when I did the Jining and Zaozhuang markets, the Jining Salt Bureau told me bluntly that the Zaozhuang market is hard to enter, and if you go in, you'll be strictly inspected. But Jining has issued documents, so this situation won't happen," a distributor told Condiment Jun. When developing markets, they also act according to the wind, and currently have no intention of entering the Zaozhuang market. 2 Salt bureau functions have been transferred; report if 'salt seizure' occurs again ▼ In fact, before this, Condiment Jun has repeatedly pointed out: In 2017, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued Document No. 604 [2017] of the Development and Reform Office, requiring that 'if the provincial, municipal, and county three-level salt industry authorities or salt quality safety management and supervision agencies have not been separated from salt companies, they must complete the formulation of the salt industry supervision system reform plan by June 30, 2017, and achieve separation of government (enterprise) and enterprise by the end of 2017'. For example, on December 27, 2017, the Guangdong Provincial Salt Bureau and the Food and Drug Administration held a handover ceremony for salt functions, stating that on December 26, the two sides signed the 'Guangdong Province Salt Supervision System Reform Function Handover Agreement', 'It is decided that from January 1, 2018, the salt quality safety management and supervision functions undertaken by the Provincial Salt Industry Group (Salt Bureau) will be officially transferred to the Provincial Food and Drug Administration; the salt quality safety management and supervision functions undertaken by salt industry authorities at all levels in the province will be transferred to the food and drug supervision departments at the same level on the same day'. In other words, similar incidents should be handled by the Food and Drug Administration and other departments. And in Shandong, where 'advance registration and preservation' incidents are frequent, it had already clarified in its 'Shandong Province Salt Industry System Reform Implementation Plan' and 'Shandong Province Salt Supervision System Reform Plan' that from January 1, 2018, according to the principle of separation of government and enterprise, 'Shandong will fully implement a new salt industry management system and salt quality safety supervision system'. Zou Jialai, deputy director of Shanghai Zhiping Law Firm, who has long followed the salt reform, said that in similar situations, salt enterprises and distributors have the right to refuse law enforcement and can call the police claiming that someone is impersonating salt bureau law enforcement personnel, 'because national regulations stipulate that before December 31, 2017, the separation of government and enterprise should be completed, and the salt bureau no longer exists'. They can even bring the salt reform related documents and escort them to the public security organ. 3 The focus of salt reform in 2018 is on production enterprises ▼ After experiencing multiple seizure incidents, some practitioners made up a phrase to describe the strange phenomena during the salt reform transition: 'The State Council's salt reform is fair and square, salt enterprises are fighting with blood, the two ministries' documents are thunderous, and the salt bureau disrupts at will.' This strange phenomenon reveals the crux of 'policies from above, countermeasures from below'. The essence of separation of government and enterprise is to ensure that under the conditions of the socialist market economy, participants can have a fair and just environment when operating products. But so far, foreign salt from various provinces has not entered local markets much. A manager surnamed Li from Shandong introduced that the pressure to expand outward comes from many aspects. 'We are not afraid of price wars; we are afraid that before the battle even starts, we will be strangled on the way by some departments.' A salt merchant surnamed Yang from Hebei said, 'A few salt bureaus use the excuse that the conditions for separation of government and enterprise are not yet mature, and fail to transfer functions in time. This violates the national salt reform policy and is an open confrontation with national laws and regulations. I hope the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments will issue policies in time to deal with illegal local governments to ensure the smooth progress of the reform.' In fact, with the end of 2017, many local salt bureaus have been clearly abolished, and their functions have been transferred to various departments. Although there is still some resistance, the general trend of separation of government and enterprise is irreversible. Zou Jialai, deputy director of Shanghai Zhiping Law Firm, said that with the further deepening of the salt reform, the key work in 2018 will focus on 'rectifying salt production enterprises'. In plain terms, it means eliminating unqualified enterprises that cannot keep up with the times, and then introducing new mechanisms. Future salt enterprises should do well in product quality, service, packaging, and follow up in marketing, rather than sticking to the old monopoly-style operation. In 2018, salt production enterprises can no longer muddle along; they must, like normal condiment enterprises, fight a bloody path in the market melee. If they do well, they will grow and develop; if not, they must be prepared to be eliminated. -END-