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| 教 育 專 題 深 入 報 導《2007-01-26》 |
| 本期內容 | |
| ◎國際專題：Mexico's economy 墨國經濟大觀 從玉米餅看壟斷經濟 | |
| ◎Mexican farmers seek OK for genetically modified corn 墨西哥農產業期待基改玉米解套 | |
| ◎賈德隆放棄自由貿易 改採控制價格 | |
| 國際專題：Mexico's economy 墨國經濟大觀 從玉米餅看壟斷經濟 | |
| 策劃、編譯■唐澄暐、侯美如 | |
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What do telecommunications, television and tortillas have in common? They are all industries in Mexico that are dominated by one or a few private players. Although Mexico's government has long been called on to address monopolistic practices in the economy, the new government of Felipe Calderon has not made anti-competition issues a priority. With the public outcry over a recent huge spike in the price of tortillas, a basic Mexican food staple, this could change. In recent weeks the price of a kilogram of corn tortillas has jumped steeply, by 60%, to Ps12 (US$1.10) in some parts of the country, and by as much as 400%, to around Ps30 (US$2.75) in Durango state. Given the minimum wage of US$4.50 per day, this has a major impact on the purse of poor Mexicans. Forty-two percent of all Mexicans survive on an income of less than two minimum wages, according to government statistics. The average Mexican consumes an estimated 250 grams of tortilla per day in urban areas, and as much as one kilo in rural zones. The increase therefore triggered a political uproar and scattered popular demonstrations around the country earlier in January. Labour and peasant organisations now are planning a major protest march against the government on January 31st, as they hold the authorities responsible for the price spike. Food industry executives and some government officials initially attributed the price jump to tight supplies and higher international prices for corn owing to increased production of corn-based ethanol in the US. This was quickly debunked, as the corn consumed in Mexico is not of the same type as that used to produce the alternative fuel (Mexicans consume white cornmeal, while ethanol is made from yellow corn, which has limited uses for human consumption). Moreover, Mexican farmers produced a healthy-sized crop of white corn in 2006, according to official data. Damage control The government quickly admitted that the increase was due to "monopolistic practices" and "speculation" by distributors and other intermediaries, and not to economic fundamentals. President Calderon on January 11th ordered his cabinet to take any measures necessary to lower corn prices and thereby prevent damage to consumers. The minister of economy, Eduardo Sojo, immediately approved a large increase in corn imports, to allow in 650,000 tons of the grain free of import duties. The government lifted price controls on tortillas in 1999, and is unable to directly fix the cost of the food, but some legislators are demanding a return to price regulation. The government also ordered the Federal Competition Commission (Comision Federal de Competencia, or CFC), the nation's anti-trust authority, to initiate an investigation into anti-competitive actions by the few large corn and tortilla companies that dominate the industry. One company alone, Gruma, controls 70% of the tortilla and cornmeal market. Mexico's consumer protection agency (Procuraduria Federal del Consumidor, or Profeco), is also monitoring distributors for signs of price fixing. Companies found to be engaged in price manipulation or other practices (such as restriction of production and distribution, or market division) could be fined as much as US$6.4m, according to the CFC. For Mr Calderon, it is politically imperative to show lower-income Mexicans that he has their interests at heart. He narrowly won the presidential election last year against leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who had a clear pro-poor platform. Mr Lopez Obrador is apt to point to the tortilla crisis as evidence of the government's lack of attention to the poor and its pro-business bias. Food pushes inflation up Authorities have another reason for tackling the tortilla problem. Mexico posted a higher-than-expected rate of inflation in 2006, largely owing to rising food costs. The consumer price index increased by 4.1%, above the government's 2-4% target range for the year. The finance minister, Agustin Carstens, has publicly insisted that he is not concerned about an inflation spike, attributing the recent rises in food prices (eggs and other items are also affected) to transitory factors. The Central Bank head, Guillermo Ortiz, has said that annual inflation will remain at or above 4% in the first few months of 2007 but will fall in the second half of the year to yield an annual rate of 3-4%. Nonetheless, the price of Mexico's 10-year bond has declined of late, reflecting expectations by investors that the Central Bank will postpone interest-rate cuts and might even raise rates at its next policy meeting in February in order to quell inflationary pressures. Status quo? A bigger policy question raised by the uproar over tortillas is whether this will push the Calderon administration to look at cartels and monopolistic behaviour in other sectors of the economy. Enforcement of Mexico's anti-trust law, the Federal Law of Economic Competition, has long been subject to criticism. The law technically prohibits monopolies per se, but in practice authorities focus exclusively on abuses of monopoly power. The president of the CFC and other officials have made it clear that the law will be applied only against companies that engage in prohibited practices, not against firms that merely have the potential to exercise monopoly control. Critics say that this methodology is timid and reflects the politicised state of the CFC. In effect, it allows de facto monopolies to exist. In particular, they say that it enables Telefonos de Mexico (Telmex), the country's privatised dominant telecommunications operator, to maintain a virtual monopoly position in significant segments of the telecoms market, especially fixed-line service, resulting in high fees to consumers. The CFC is also constrained by insufficient powers of enforcement and a lack of resources. It has demonstrated some willingness to tackle powerful opponents, but with mixed success. According to a 2004 report on Mexico's competition framework by the OECD, the CFC's effectiveness has been hampered by a proliferation of "amparos" (judicial injunctions) filed against its rulings. Even when the CFC investigates cases of abuse of monopoly power, it has not proven its willingness to make controversial or unpopular rulings. Most decisions to date have been cautious. The initial signs from the Calderon government on the anti-trust front have not been encouraging. Shortly after the administration took office on December 1st of last year, the new secretary of communications and transport, Luiz Tellez, suggested that the government would not issue a license for a third national television network any time soon, as this was not among the new president's first "100 commitments". How the new government responded to the request by Telemundo, the US Spanish-language TV unit owned by General Electric, to start a third network was seen as a measure of its interest in fomenting more competition in the broadcasting industry specifically and in the overall economy in general. Mexico's television market is dominated by TV Azteca and Televisa, the only two national broadcasters. Critics say that Mexico's economy will never be dynamic and globally competitive, or reach its full growth potential, until the government is willing to take on such monopolies and duopolies (both public and private), politically connected and protected businessmen, and other vested interests (such as privileged unions) that impede innovation, competition and growth. It is still unclear whether Mr Calderon is up to the task. 電信、電視廣播和玉米餅有什麼相同之處？答案是：他們都是墨西哥私人壟斷的企業。根據《經濟學人》報導，雖然長久來人民一再要求政府改善經濟體質，去年12月新任的總統賈德隆（Felipe Calderon）卻也忽視市場競爭的重要性，而近期撼動墨國的玉米餅危機或許能讓政府重審經濟問題。 近期墨國最大主食玉米餅（tortilla）價格大翻漲，原本1公斤7比索（約美金0.6元）的玉米餅，有的地區漲價60%到12比索（1.1美金），杜蘭戈州（Durango state）甚至價格飆4倍到30比索（2.75美金），達到十幾年來最高位，平民食品一夕之間變得高不可攀。數據顯示，墨國每日最低薪資僅4.5美金，且42%墨國人民每日收入都不及9美元，而都市平均每人每日消耗250克玉米餅，鄉村地區更要1公斤，受這波玉米餅價格打擊最重的自然是貧苦人家。於是在1月早先，民生問題引發政治騷動，各地活動份子開始動作，勞工及農人組織也要政府負責，並計劃本月底來場大抗議遊行。 食品工業負責人和政府官員趕忙把責任歸咎給吃緊的供應量、以及上漲的國際油價，他們指出，美國近來開發替代能源，用玉米生產乙醇代替石油，玉米價格因而節節攀升；但這些藉口很快就被拆穿，因為墨西哥玉米餅使用的是白玉米，根本就不是美國生產乙醇使用的黃玉米，此外，官方資料也顯示，去年墨西哥國內玉米收成相當充足。 控制損失 於是政府不得不坦承，玉米餅價格飆漲實導因於國內的「壟斷企業」以及在中間揩油的中介商。賈德隆並在11日下令，要求內閣採取一切手段讓價格下穩並減少消費者損失，經濟部長索賀（Eduardo Sojo）並立刻增加進口量，讓65萬噸玉米免進口稅快速通關。雖然墨國政府在1999年已解除對玉米餅價格的控制，現況如此，不少國會議員又要求重回立法規範價格。 政府並下令全國最大的反托拉斯組織「聯邦競爭委員會」（Federal Competition Commission，CFC）出查各大玉米廠是否有反市場競爭的行為，其中最大的粟米公司Gruma就掌控了墨國70%玉米餅和玉米粉市場。另外，消費者保護協會（Profeco）也監管批發商是否依循固定價格交易，CFC並表示若有任何操弄價格、控制產量或市場分配等違法行為，最高可處以640萬美元的罰金。 對卡爾德龍來說，能否漂亮平定玉米餅危機更是贏得民心的關鍵。去年總統大選他只險勝對手奧布拉多（Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador）0.58%的票數，若國內持續動盪，屆時關心社會底層的左派奧布拉多必能抓到對手辮子，指出現任總統只關心企業發展不管民不聊生。 通貨膨脹導因於食 其實，這次玉米餅危機便是墨國供貨膨脹問題的一體兩面。去年墨西哥通貨膨脹率高於預期，專家指出主要原因為食品成本的提升，2006年消費者物價指數（CPI，衡量一般家庭購買消費性商品及價格變動情形，通常被用來觀察通貨膨脹）為4.1%，高於政府估計的2%到4%，對此財政部長卡爾史丹斯（Agustin Carstens）指出食品物價上漲為其短暫因素，政府和此事無關。中央銀行行長歐提茲（Guillermo Ortiz）則預估墨西哥2007前半年年度通貨膨脹數仍有4%，後半前可望下降至3%到4%之間。 因此，墨國政府的10年期公債近日價格下滑，顯示出投資人一般期待中央銀行將延緩調降銀行存款利率，甚至還會在2月的政策會議決定進行調漲，以減輕通貨膨脹壓力。 壟斷無法可管 不過抗議者打擊的目標可不只玉米工業，他們希望藉此督促卡爾德龍好好正視國內所有獨占企業的問題。然而身為墨國反壟斷最前線的「經濟競爭聯邦法」（Federal Law of Economic Competition）長久來卻備受批評。雖然名為「防止企業壟斷」，這條法規卻只被拿來規範「濫用壟斷權」的公司。CFC總裁及多位官員也清楚指出，該規章只對付違法企業，不打擊擁有壟斷潛力的公司。 批評者指出這種膽小鬼法律反應CFC縱容壟斷企業存在的態度，更舉出電信鉅子Telmex為例，這家墨西哥最大的私營電信公司幾乎獨佔電信市場上所有重要區塊，尤其是固網服務，導致國內電信價格居高不下。 但CFC有其難處，它缺乏執行力及資源，即使心有餘也力不足。經濟合作暨發展組織（OECD）在2004年在針對墨西哥競爭網絡的報告上就提過，CFC效力端看上方「司法命令」約束，即使CFC能調查企業壟斷案件，它卻畏於訂定富爭議又不受歡迎的法條。因此到目前為止，CFC行事仍得步步小心為營。 更糟的是，卡爾德龍對於反托拉斯運動的反應並不樂觀。就在新政府於去年12月1日開始執政後，新通訊運輸部長泰利斯（Luiz Tellez）就指出，短期內不可能發出第3張電視公司營業執照──意指，墨西哥國內將仍然只有TV Azteca和Televisa兩家電視公司獨大。他們並指這個提出營業申請的第三者──工業巨頭通用電氣公司（General Electric）旗下的美國西班牙語電視台Telemundo為「蓄意挑起廣播業及墨國全面經濟更多競爭」。 正如評論指出的，除非政府能擺脫一家獨大或雙頭瓜分的經濟、脫離依附政治及受保護的商業環境、以及那些妨礙改革、競爭及成長的既得利益企業，不然墨西哥的經濟永遠是一灘缺乏國際競爭力、無法發揮成長潛能的死水。至於卡爾德龍總統是否已經做好接下這個燙手山芋的準備，全世界都在看。 （http://www.economist.com/agenda/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8575130） |
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| （回目錄） | |
| Mexican farmers seek OK for genetically modified corn 墨西哥農產業期待基改玉米解套 | |
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墨西哥農產業向政府呼籲，希望能准許他們種植基因改造玉米，以回應當前造成日常食品價格大漲的「玉米餅危機」。國家農業協會（CNA）的會長哈耶美‧葉薩奇表示，種植基改玉米可能是維持百萬墨西哥家庭基礎穀類食品的「最根本解決方式」。CAN是墨西哥超過5百個農產及其他作物產業的代表，其中玉米餅和豆類，構成了墨西哥5千萬窮人的基本糧食。 玉米是墨西哥最重要的作物，在1996至2005年間在全國佔了51％的耕地，且墨西哥也是全球第四大玉米生產國，僅次於美國、中國和巴西。 過去幾週，由白玉米製成的玉米餅價格每公斤超越了10比索，比2006年上漲了11％，過去6年甚至有70％的漲幅。墨西哥主教諾貝多‧李維拉‧卡列拉由於聲稱漲價對窮人的影響被過度誇大，而在這次的危機中受到譴責。上週三，數十位農民與草根團體在經濟秘書部與農業秘書部的大樓前要求停止玉米價格上漲。 墨西哥每年都有9百萬噸的玉米拿來做玉米餅，如此不可或缺的國家食糧一旦明顯漲跌，都可能對整個消費者物價指數和上億人口的生計產生大規模影響。「我們想要在關鍵的地方使用基改穀物，例如此次的玉米。因為我們希望在提供這種作物給所有人民時，能保證其價格合理。」葉薩奇表示。這次的玉米餅大漲價引發了全墨西哥的喧騰，也迫使12月1日甫上任的賈德隆必須通過進口65萬噸的玉米以平息價格。 在北美自由貿易協定（NAFTA）下，墨西哥應當在2008年以前消除玉蜀黍與豆類的進口關稅，但墨國的國家小農與農場聯盟（CNC）以及其他農業組織要求政府應該在條約中加入保護條款以保障國內農民。墨西哥的小規模農人，擔心美國大規模農業便宜的玉米和豆類挾著資金與技術，甚至政府的補貼，而橫行墨西哥。 過去8年，白玉米年產量2千2百萬噸的墨西哥，一直禁止種植基改玉米。葉薩奇表示，耕作者必須等待政府允許才能開始種植基改玉米，但同時許多地區的中美洲傳統古玉米的種植計畫也遭到棄置。 但綠色和平組織也在上週四表示，玉米餅價格的上漲，已被墨西哥政府當作開放基改玉米的藉口。一旦墨西哥農業秘書部授權種植基改玉米，美國的農業技術產品供應商Monsanto將成為最大的受益者。「墨西哥的基改玉米實驗田地將導致環境受損且無法復原。」該組織消費者活動的阿雷里‧加列昂表示。種植此類穀物「將造成原生種玉米的基因與常見種的基因混雜汙染，最後的結果將呈現在餐桌上。」綠色和平組織表示。 至於墨西哥參議院農業發展委員會，則招開了一系列會議，邀請玉米產業代表與農民說明市場狀態和玉米餅價格上漲的情形。委員會主席拉米雷茲表示，由於玉米的重要性，「我們將持續譴責墨西哥政府在此方面過度的對外依賴，以及剝奪國內中小型生產者大好良機的政策。」 （資料來源／www.efe.com） |
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| （回目錄） | |
| 賈德隆放棄自由貿易 改採控制價格 | |
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面臨公眾對玉米餅飆漲價格的憤怒，總統賈德隆18日決定放棄自由貿易原則，並強迫產銷商簽下固定玉米產品價的協定。原本賈德隆的解決方式是從美國進口更多玉米，並調查玉米分配商是否共謀操作價格。但公眾持續憤怒，中央銀行也警告如此可能導致其他日常用品上漲，以致通貨膨脹。 18日早晨，一向提倡自由貿易不遺餘力的賈德隆，終於宣佈他與幾家牽涉玉米產品的大型企業達成協定，將玉米餅的價格限定在1公斤8.44比索。他也將販售給小型店面的玉米餅原料價格固定在1公斤3.38比索，也命令農村公營商店比照此價格。沃爾瑪和其他幾家大型零售店答應將玉米餅的價格維持在1公斤6.51比索，而Gruma也同意將麵粉價格維持1公斤5.07比索，並且不會讓玉米餅的價格超過1公斤8.44比索。 |
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| （回目錄） | |
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