Guest:
Zhao Secretary-General of Beijing Price Association
Qiu, Director of Consumer Rights Protection Committee of Beijing Lawyers Association
Unified price increase is suspected of violating the price law.
Net: The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has issued a notice recently, requiring price authorities at all levels to immediately organize special inspections on the prices of major foods and related charges, with the main targets being price collusion, price gouging and other price violations. Why is NDRC in such a hurry? How to strike after inspection?
Zhao: This inspection is normal. Checking it doesn't mean we have to check everything. Inspection is a routine job. This doesn't mean we have to check because of some things.
Qiu: Why did I write to the NDRC at that time, thinking that the unified price increase was suspected of violating the price law? I think so, too. I saw the part about milk in the Nanjing Declaration. The government said that there was no sound and the fast food restaurant should be set up immediately. This practice has followed suit. Some associations and some enterprises have joined forces to discuss and negotiate. In this way, I think it is suspected of violating the provisions of the Price Law. The government should stop it, recognize it and have a say. So after this letter, I think the voice of the government is very strong.
Without this notice, there would be no government voice, and there would be a chain reaction in the future with excellent consequences. Today's association, tomorrow's association, today's two enterprises, tomorrow's two enterprises, then the price order in our market will be very chaotic, and it will be difficult to regulate at a certain time. Therefore, if there are such signs, we should nip the signs of chaos in the cradle.
It takes time to judge.
Net: Since it is suspected of breaking the law, why not investigate it immediately?
Zhao: The price law is formulated by the National Development and Reform Commission, and there is a time for investigation and evidence collection to determine whether it is illegal.
Qiu: It also has a process. It is not yet possible to say whether it is illegal. We can only say that we are suspected. After investigation by relevant departments, it can still be said that it is legal or illegal. We suggest that the government investigate and determine.
Net: If the enterprise raises the price alone, there is no legal risk. So what if companies raise prices separately?
Qiu: As long as there are negotiations, separation will not happen at the same time. As long as there are negotiations, market prices are not secret and open, which may be the case. If you can't find it, just negotiate the price.
As long as you negotiate or discuss how to set the price with the other party, it is illegal and not allowed even if the investigation is not made public, but it is very difficult.
Net: It is very difficult to obtain evidence. For example, it is not good for them to form an offensive and defensive alliance.
Qiu: That's another matter. First of all, if you don't check it blatantly, it's even less difficult. As long as the government has a voice that is not allowed, the law is rigid and mandatory. As long as you break the law, you will be punished. Now that the government is suspected of breaking the law, there is no voice. Don't people follow suit? If you don't look for it in private, there is no way. If found, it must be punished through private consultation.
Agreement pricing does not really reflect the relationship between cost and supply and demand.
Recently, monopoly industries, such as power industry and oil industry, have also demanded price increases. what do you think?
Zhao: The prices and management authority of these commodities are in the central government, that is, in the National Development and Reform Commission, and local governments have no power. So what should this piece be? Whether to adjust, how to do it and how to consider it should be explained by the National Development and Reform Commission.
Qiu: Let me make a point. Why do I care about the price of instant noodles? It is the price of food, which is closely related to the lives of ordinary people. As soon as this price rises, it is related to the rise in the basic consumption and life of ordinary people, which is likely to have a chain reaction. Some enterprises take the opportunity to drive up prices, so people's livelihood issues must be taken seriously.
In addition, there is nothing wrong with the price increase of the enterprise itself, such as the price increase of raw materials and labor costs. Why can't enterprises raise prices independently? What is the reason for the price increase? According to cost and supply and demand. But now, the relationship between cost and supply and demand is not really reflected through negotiation pricing, and the price can be manipulated. If you have a market monopoly, it is impossible to abuse the market monopoly and dominant position. If it colludes with an alliance, the rights and interests of consumers will be harmed.
Consumers' right to fair trade is damaged, and the price does not match the value. It is not a market pricing mechanism, but seeking high-profit pricing through alliances, which will inevitably harm the interests of consumers. The voice of the government is still very strong. I think it is good to regulate this market. So first of all, I welcome it and recognize it.
How to punish?
He Xun. Com: At present, the punishment of this kind of price alliance by national laws is very small. A lot of price alliance's treatment before went away. Because although the law is against price monopoly, in practice, we have not seen any price monopoly sanctioned. Why are the sanctions against price monopoly not implemented well? How should the government supervise?
Qiu: The relevant penalties are as follows: according to Article 40 of the Price Law, firstly, confiscate the illegal income, stop this behavior, confiscate the illegal income, and impose a fine of less than five times the illegal income. If the circumstances are serious, the license shall be revoked. As for how to implement it in practice, it is the responsibility of government departments. Ye Tan: Don't accuse the daily chemical giants of raising prices.
Market rumors that Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Libai and Ness will collectively raise prices next month, causing an uproar. From the law to the protection of consumers' rights and interests, some people question it. Xinhua even published five articles in a row, accusing large enterprises of colluding in price increases-is it tolerable?
Moral condemnation of enterprises cannot replace rational analysis. It is better to blame the negative interest rate policy of the global central bank than to blame the price increase of enterprises. Loose liquidity is the chief culprit of the sharp rise in the prices of basic raw materials such as oil.
Today, global liquidity is still rampant. The second round of quantitative easing monetary policy in the United States makes the global crude oil price stand at around $ 100 per barrel, while China has been in a state of negative interest rate. The loose liquidity directly leads to two major results: the lingering inflation expectations and the sharp rise in the prices of all oil-related raw materials. The vast majority of futures markets are non-delivery orders, which shows that the current rise in oil prices is the product of excess liquidity, not the real demand of the real economy.
The price of raw materials for daily chemical products has risen sharply. The vice president of Unilever Greater China once told the media: "Most of the raw materials used in the daily chemical industry are by-products of oil. At present, the international oil price has risen from $50/barrel last year to more than $ 100/barrel, the price of petrochemical products has increased by 60%, the price of vegetable oil has increased by 50%~60%, and the price of inorganic salts has increased by 40%~50%.
I happened to meet the chairman of a medium-sized daily chemical product last week and was told that the price of main raw materials has increased by more than 50%. If bulk shampoo and other products don't increase in price, it's losing money and earning money. The reason why it can still support at present is mainly that the raw materials hoarded last year digested part of the cost. It can be seen that this round of price increases is first for large enterprises, and then small and medium-sized daily chemical enterprises will inevitably follow suit.
The last round of sharp rise in the price of daily chemical products was in mid-2008, just before the global financial crisis broke out, inflation deteriorated in an all-round way. Now, we have clearly seen the shadow of full-scale inflation.
The daily chemical enterprises in the downstream have a hard time, while the giant raw material enterprises in the upstream have a good life. According to the 20 10 annual report, the total profits of Sinopec, PetroChina and CNOOC reached 265 10 billion yuan, of which the net profit of PetroChina was about/kloc-0.4 billion yuan, that of CNOOC was 54.4 billion yuan, and that of Sinopec was 70.7 billion yuan, up by 35.6%, 84.5% and/kloc-0 respectively.
Not surprisingly, when domestic refined oil prices hit a record high, petrochemical giants kept lobbying for higher cost oil prices on the grounds of rising crude oil prices and refining losses. Last month, affected by the rise in international oil prices, the National Development and Reform Commission announced an increase in gasoline and diesel prices, with gasoline prices rising by about 4.5% and diesel prices rising by about 5.0%. According to the calculation of a bank [12.84-0.62%] (601166, stock bar), after the oil price rising effect is fully transmitted and released in industrial production, it will drive the PPI to rise by about 0.3 percentage points and CPI to rise by about 0.2 percentage points.
In fact, not only the price of refined oil has risen to the highest level in history, but also the price of petroleum derivatives has risen sharply, such as the prices of propylene and epoxy propylene, which directly pushed up the raw material prices of downstream enterprises. A round of inflation derived from excess currency liquidity has been transmitted to the downstream industrial chain, and the prices of all enterprises, including grain and daily chemicals, are on the rise.
At this time, the world's major central banks, including the Federal Reserve and the Bank of China, are the culprit. It is the irresponsible large-scale currency issuance of these central banks that leads to global liquidity out of control and further deterioration of global inflation expectations. Secondly, petrochemical giants such as Sinopec and PetroChina are hard to blame. The biggest reason for the existence of these giant central enterprises is to maintain economic stability at critical moments, but reality has proved that these enterprises often add fuel to the fire when inflation expectations deteriorate.
It is undoubtedly a soft pinch to accuse loose monetary policy, petrochemical giants of adding fuel to the flames and blindly accuse downstream daily chemical enterprises of colluding with each other to manipulate market prices. Because they dare not blame the central bank and large central enterprises, but make irresponsible remarks about the prices of downstream enterprises, do they want downstream enterprises to bear all the inflation costs? The result of such bullying is that all downstream enterprises go bankrupt.
Of course, we don't doubt that some giant enterprises may communicate with each other on price, but in this respect, the law has strict constraints, so we can act according to the rules. The Anti-Monopoly Law stipulates that operators with competitive relations are prohibited from reaching monopoly agreements, fixing or changing commodity prices, and operators with dominant market positions are prohibited from selling commodities at unfairly high prices. The Price Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) stipulates that operators shall not collude with each other to manipulate market prices; It is not allowed to fabricate and spread information about price increases, drive up prices and raise commodity prices too high. If there is conclusive evidence, hell to pay.
The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) punished the dealers who colluded to raise the prices of agricultural products. There are no businessmen who are not afraid of the NDRC, unless they give up the big market of China.
In July last year, the National Development and Reform Commission informed a dealer in Shandong Province that he was hoarding garlic and was fined 65,438+10,000 yuan for driving up the price. The local refrigeration and preservation association in zhongmou county, Henan Province organized operators to collude with each other to manipulate the charging standard for garlic refrigeration, and was fined 80,000 yuan; A dealer in Warehouse No.1, Cangxi, Dapeng Logistics No.2, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, bid up the price of mung beans and was fined 20,000 yuan. Enterprises such as Jcce Co., Ltd. colluded with each other, fabricated and disseminated price increase information, and manipulated the market price of mung beans, and were fined 6,543,800 yuan by the highest law. The heavy-handed attack by the National Development and Reform Commission caused the price to fall back in a short period of time, but mung beans still rose slightly since then, indicating that besides the price increase, there are also monetary and cost factors.
The back-end enterprises in the industrial chain do not understand the marketing channels, and the price increase cost is extremely high. And the product substitution effect is strong. Even if big brands experience price increases, national brands with good quality can expand the market on dips. Therefore, the downstream enterprises with strong competitiveness will not adopt the means of price increase unless absolutely necessary.
Accusing enterprises must distinguish the reasons, otherwise it will punish the market itself and let go of the departments and enterprises that create inflation. When we accuse the market behavior, it is likely that we are excusing the currency and monopoly behaviors that damage the market.