Source: Global Times
Recently, China's Ministry of Commerce issued a notice mentioning that "families are encouraged to store a certain amount of daily necessities according to their needs to meet the needs of daily life and emergencies", which has aroused great concern in society. In fact, some Western countries have issued similar notices during the epidemic. And for some countries, stockpiling is a tradition.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit hard last year, the Federal Civil Protection and Disaster Relief Agency (BBK), part of the German Federal Ministry of the Interior, required every adult to stock up on food for 10 days and published a "food list." This "food list" includes, with at least 20 litres of drinking water, 3.5 kg of staple foods such as rice, noodles, potatoes, etc., 6.5 kg of vegetables and fruits (or canned), 2.6 kg of dairy products, 1.5 kg of fish, meat, eggs or whole egg flour, 0.4 kg of grease, food that does not need to be heated or cooked (sugar, honey, chocolate, instant broth, etc.). The list is said to guarantee a calorie intake of 2200 calories per person per day.
As early as the 1960s, Germany had a relief reserve at the national level and still stores grain in 150 secret locations, with the standard of 10 kilograms of grain reserves per resident. Beginning in 2016, BBK began advising people to stock up on first aid supplies. Switzerland called for emergency supplies to be stockpiled more than 50 years ago, asking people to store essential supplies in basements. The Swiss Ministry of Defence, Civil Defence and Sport publishes brochures from time to time advising people on what supplies to store. In recent years, the ministry has proposed the "cooking without electricity" method, which explains how food in refrigerators does not spoil when there is no electricity, how to cook pasta, etc. At the same time, the ministry also requires each family to prepare first aid bandages, painkillers, thermometers, masks, disinfectants, candles, camping stoves, flashlights, spare batteries, identity documents, etc. Austria, France, Italy and other European countries also have such proposals, some of which are unified lists by the state, and some of which are mainly prepared by the states.
A director of BBK said in an interview with the Global Times reporter last year that in the face of various unpredictable major disasters, European governments have demanded that every citizen should plan ahead. Stockpiling necessary supplies can also prevent people from snatching food, resulting in "food shortages" in supermarkets. At the same time, the government department will also regularly publish the list of reserve materials on the official website for the public's reference.
For the "reserve notice" issued by the Ministry of Commerce of China, Zhu Xiaoliang, director of the Department of Consumption Promotion of the Ministry of Commerce, clarified the issues of public opinion on the 2nd. Zhu Xiaoliang said that from the current situation, the supply of daily necessities in various places is sufficient, and the supply should be completely guaranteed. In addition, a person familiar with the matter told the Global Times reporter that the relevant notice of reserve materials is a routine work notice of the Ministry of Commerce, and there is no hidden deep meaning, and public opinion has misread the notice.