The Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI) hosted a policy forum on the “Outlook for the 2014 Harvest Season and Tasks” at KREI’s main conference room on October 14.

The debate sought ways to maintain stable supply and demand and prices by examining factors that destabilize prices and forecasting rice distribution in this year’s harvest time.

Grain Outlook Office Director Kim Tae-hun argued that efforts were needed to relieve anxiety about rice tariffication. He emphasized that continuous provision of information on tariffication’s effects and the supply and demand situation and public relations were necessary to prevent harvest season’s dumping due to a vague uneasiness, and that exceptional market isolation should be considered for stable supply and demand this year, given anxiety over price drops because of tariffication.

Particularly, he said that market isolation needed to be reviewed exceptionally this year to relieve anxiety about tariffication, although government intervention in the market should be predictable with principles.