DPRK Ministry of Agriculture, 'Model Charter of an Agricultural Cooperative, 2nd Form'

 SECRET Copy Nº 1

[CPSU CC stamp:

01263

10 JAN 56

Subject to return to the

CPSU CC General Department]

to the CPSU CC

to Cde. I. S. SHCHERBAKOV

Attached we are sending you the journal of Soviet Ambassador in the DPRK Cde. V. I. Ivanov from 4 through 15 December 1955, and also the model charters of an agricultural production cooperative (2^nd and 3^rd forms).

ATTACHMENT: The journal of Cde. Ivanov (incoming

Nº 4865s-dv) on 24 pages, to the addressee only; the

charters of an agricultural production cooperative, unclassified, on 37 pages, to the addressee only.

[signature]

(I. KURDYUKOV)

10 January 1956

Nº 48/dv-

[handwritten note:

to the archives

the material was used in a memo

about the situation in Korea.

I. Shcherbakov

1[6] April 1956

[[illegible signature]

[illegible signature,

16 April 1956]

2-BV/nm

1 - to the address

2 - to file

Nº 68-dv

10 January 56

[...]

model charter of AN agricultural cooperative

(second form)

Ministry of Agriculture

August 1954

01263

Table of Contents

1. Name and location

Article 1. This cooperative is named ……… cooperative and is located in the village of ….., district of……, province of…….

2. The goals and main tasks

Article 2. This cooperative is a voluntary organization of the working peasants of ….district….province of……and sets as its goal the systematic increase of the yield of agricultural crops and income by joining land into a cooperative on the basis of the principles of mutual advantage, joint use of draft animals, farm implements, and other means of production and the rational organization of production on the basis of a common plan.

It thus pursues the goal of strengthening the popular democratic system in the area of agriculture, along with a constant increase of the material and cultural level of members of the cooperative. At the same time the cooperative promotes the elimination of backward, small-scale private farms, and constantly strengthening and developing through the use of advanced farm implements and machines, the introduction of advanced methods of agricultural technology based on advanced science, the gradual growth of public property, and a constant increase in labor productivity.

For working peasants an agricultural cooperative is the most correct and only way to ensure a constant improvement of the material and cultural level.

Each member of the cooperative should with all sincerity participate in the work of the cooperative, protect labor discipline and internal order as one's dearest possession, honestly fulfill all tasks and responsibilities, and by thus actively making their contribution to the cause of the development of the country's economy, develop and strengthen the cooperative and make a more prosperous life for all members of the cooperative.

III. The land

Article 3. All the land belonging to members of the cooperative is worked by them and are joined in the cooperative and are jointly worked by its members, with the exception of plots of defined size attached to farmhouses. All boundaries which divided the land of cooperative members are destroyed and the land becomes a single whole. However, the owner keeps property rights to the land and the right of inheritance as before.

Article 4. The dimensions of the attached plots for the personal use of cooperative members, excluding the land directly under housing, are established for each peasant household depending on the size of the family within the limits of 70-150 pkhyon* for flat plots and 100-200 pkhyon for hilly plots. Cooperative members who do not have attached plots are assigned the closest land to their housing from the cooperative's land holdings in accordance with the above condition.

* a pkhyon is a measure of land equal to 3.3. m² ([Soviet] translator's note)

Fruit and mulberry trees on attached plots are left for the personal use of the cooperative member.

Article 5. The cooperative should correctly evaluate the quality and determine the area of the joint land in order to rationally perform the distribution of the harvest depending on the share of land or of a different cooperative member.

The evaluation of the joint land is done independently with the permission of the general meeting of cooperative members by the cooperative's board by waterless and irrigated fields and by area or by waterless and irrigated fields, by area and by productiveness of the soil, which is approved by the general meeting.

Article 6. The public land joined into the cooperative cannot be sold or transferred to another person. The land needs to be protected from natural disasters, and instances where the land is not being worked or is found to be unsuitable need to be combated. An expansion of the cooperative's land area is permitted only by reclaiming virgin and abandoned land and also by acquiring land from the state for temporary use.

Article 7. If a cooperative member leaves or is expelled from the cooperative his land holding is returned to him. However, in the event an inconvenience is created in the general working of the land by the cooperative by someone who has left or has been expelled from the cooperative, land in the same dimensions can be offered in another place.

In the event the cooperative has already done reclamation work on land subject to return the persons who have left or been expelled from the cooperative are obligated to give compensation for the cooperative's expenses for the reclamation.

IV. The means of production

Article 8. The draft animals, farm implements, fishing equipment, and other implements, and also the farm buildings and production equipment of cooperative members needed to operate the cooperative farm are transferred to public ownership of the cooperative. In accurately estimating the value, the cooperative clears off their cost at the end of the economic year with money or in kind (with agricultural products of the production of the cooperative).

Article 9. An assessment commission is elected at the general meeting of members of the cooperative for an accurate determination of the value of the means of production which have been transferred to public ownership of the cooperative. With the participation of members of the cooperative who transferred the means of production belonging to them the assessment commission makes an assessment of the means of production belonging to it and afterwards draws up a list of the means of production which have been transferred, which is then approved by the general meeting.

The list indicates the condition of the means of production and sets their value. The list is signed by the members of the assessment commission and the members of the cooperative which handed over the means of production to the cooperative.

Article 10. During the first year from the moment the cooperative is organized each member of the cooperative, regardless of the size of the land area, provides the cooperative with the necessary seeds, fertilizer, and feed needed to raise the public livestock free of charge. If a cooperative member cannot make his contribution in the established amounts he must contribute it at the end of the reporting year without fail.

Local fertilizer, with the exception of the set quantity of fertilizer used by cooperative members in [their own] attached plots, should be handed over to the cooperative.

At the end of the year the cooperative must pay members of the cooperative who have handed over local fertilizer proper compensation in money or in kind depending on the quality and quantity of the fertilizer.

Article 11. Each member of the cooperative can have household livestock and domestic poultry for personal use in set amounts, and also the structures needed to raise and breed household livestock and poultry, and small farm implements used for attached plots.

The number of head of household livestock and poultry which each cooperative member can have for personal use is established in the following amounts: one cow, two pigs, two sheep, one beehive (in mountainous regions, up to three beehives), and an unlimited number of poultry. Care for household livestock is done in time free from work in order not to interfere with the work in the cooperative.

[V. The work and the managerial bodies]

Article 12. The cooperative is obligated to the state to conscientiously meet the obligations and goals, draw up its own plan in accordance with the requirements of the country’s economic plan and, based on this plan, to organize and run a communal farm [vesti obshchestvennoe khozyaystvo]. Along with this, the cooperative's board and all its members are obligated to perform the following work:

1. Work all the land, without leaving a single patch of uncultivated land, based on the principle: cultivate the appropriate crop on the appropriate land. Reclaim new land, expand the cultivated land, pursue work to improve the quality of the land, and increase the percentage of land use.

Increasing the collection of local fertilizer, increase the fertility of the soil, widely introduce and use modern agricultural machines and advanced agricultural equipment, and thus constantly improve the harvest of food crops.

2. Promote the development of animal husbandry by creating a livestock farm and increasing the number of head. Create a forage reserve in order to strengthen the base for breeding livestock. Take steps to increase the productivity of the livestock, give possible aid to cooperative members in breeding household livestock for personal use.

3. Organize public fishing enterprises, and gradually improve and mechanize the process of fishing. Use production tools efficiently, constantly increasing productivity and improving the quality of production, discover and develop sources of fish, and broadly develop work to find fish.

4. Always have draft animals and farm implements in constant readiness, take good care of farm implements, livestock, equipment, and state machines, and raise the percentage of their use.

5. Plant fruit trees, tobacco, industrial crops, and vegetables systematically and increase their yields; rationally organize all possible such farms somehow: silk production, raw material processing, the production of items from straw, and thereby continually increase the cooperative's income.

6. Increase the skill level of cooperative members in every possible way, train skilled people in rice cultivation, animal husbandry, gardening, fishing, and other things.

7. Actively involve women in the public and production activity of the cooperative, create children's nurseries and homes, and also provide the necessary conditions for women to be able to actively participate in the life of the cooperative.

8. Systematically increase the level of the political and cultural life of cooperative members, organize the reading of newspapers and literature, listening to the radio, build buildings for public use, keep the streets and housing clean, and organize and supervise the construction and repair of the housing of members of the cooperative.

Article 13. All the work of the cooperative is done on the principle of democratic self-government. [The following] are the management bodies of cooperatives: the general meeting of cooperative members, the board, and the auditing commission. The management bodies of the cooperative should continually induce activity, raise the initiative of cooperative members, and actively involve all members of the cooperative in the management of the cooperative.

Article 14. The general meeting of cooperative members is the highest body of the cooperative; it decides the following main issues:

1. It elects and recalls the board, the auditing commission, and their chairmen.

2. It approves the appointment of a bookkeeper, a team leader, and a technician appointed by the meeting.

3. It decides the issue of the acceptance, expulsion, and departure from the cooperative.

4. It establishes and corrects the charter and the internal procedure of the cooperative.

5. It approves the production plan, the capital construction plan, the budget, and the labor norms by labor skill, the method of assessing labor-days, and the amount of payment for additional labor-days.

6. It approves the production assignments by work teams and the norms for the expenditure of materials.

7. It approves contracts with machine rental and horse rental stations and other organizations.

8. It approves the financial report and the draft of the distribution of profits submitted by the cooperative's board.

9. It establishes the amount of the public accrual and appropriates funds for social and common needs.

10. It hears and discusses the work of the board of the auditing commission.

11. It approves the receipt and the methods of evaluating the land transferred to cooperative members for common use.

12. It awards and proposes punishments for cooperative members.

Article 15.

The general meeting of cooperative members decides issues with the participation of more than half of the cooperative members. However, questions of the adoption and change of the charter, elections and recall of the board, the auditing commission, and their chairmen, acceptance into the cooperative, expulsion and departure from the cooperative, the distribution of profit, and the setting of the size of various funds are decided in the presence of no less than 2/3 of the members of the cooperative.

The general meeting makes a decision by a majority of votes with open voting.

Article 16. A general meeting is convened periodically by the chairman of the board at least once a month. In addition, a meeting is convened in the event of pressing need and also at the demand of no less than 1/3 of the members of the cooperative.

The board notifies members of the cooperative about the date and time of the convening of the meeting two days before the meeting.

Article 17. A meeting elects the board of the cooperative consisting of five to nine members for a term of one to two years to manage the operation of the cooperative during intervals between meetings, and also a board chairman who leads the board.

The board is the executive body of the cooperative. It bears responsibility to the general meeting for the operation of the cooperative.

Article 18. The board of the cooperative does the following work under the supervision of the chairman:

1. It organizes, directs, and monitors the operation of the cooperative for precise compliance with the charter and the decisions of the general meeting.

2. It prepares the convening of the general meeting, and gives regular reports to the meeting on the work done.

3. It elects a deputy chairman of the board of the cooperative, and appoints or replaces the bookkeeper, team leaders, and other specialists.

Article 19. The board chairman convenes the board twice a month, develops specific measures to comply with the charter and the decisions of the meeting, and bears the following responsibilities to the general meeting:

1. He daily manages, organizes, and monitors the operation of the collective and the work teams, and handles vital issues of the cooperative’s activity.

2. He represents the cooperative in discussions with a government body or a third party, and is obliged to justify the trust places in him by the members of the cooperative.

3. He bears responsibility for the correct use of cooperative property, the cooperative's income, and the appropriations based on the charter and the decisions of the general meeting.

Article 20. The general meeting elects an auditing commission consisting of three to five people for a term of one to two years, from which the auditing commission elects a chairman of the auditing commission. Neither board members, members of their families, nor officials of the accounting office can be elected to the auditing commission.

The auditing commission monitors various economic activity of the cooperative regularly. It should regularly inspect how correctly the record of the in-kind and monetary receipts are kept and whether in the established procedure, whether the procedure for the expenditure of property prescribed by the charter and by the decisions of the general meeting is being observed, and whether there is any theft or embezzlement of property or money, the obligations to the state are being met correctly and on time, whether debts and credits are being paid correctly and on time, and whether the accounting for labor-days is being performed correctly. In addition, the auditing commission should clear up questions and misunderstandings which arise between members of the cooperative in a timely manner.

In monitoring the annual and quarterly reports submitted by the cooperative's board to the general meeting the auditing commission should present its conclusion to the general meeting about the summary report of the cooperative's board.

No less than four times a year the auditing commission conducts an audit, which should be approved by the general meeting. The auditing commission bears responsibility in its activity to the meeting.

Article 21. The board of the cooperative appoints a bookkeeper to conduct accurate recordkeeping of the cooperative's property and accounts. The bookkeeper keeps a record in the established form and is subordinate to the board of the cooperative and its chairman.

The bookkeeper does not have the right to dispose of the property of the cooperative by himself.

The chairman of the board and the bookkeeper sign all expense documents, after which they are valid.

VI. The member of an agricultural cooperative

and his basic rights and responsibilities

Article 22. Any working peasant who has reached the age of 16, accepts the cooperative's charter, and participates in its work can be a member of a cooperative.

The board of a cooperative considers the request of one wanting to join a cooperative, after which it is raised for discussion at the general meeting of cooperative members.

If the head of the family joins the cooperative then the able-bodied members of his family also join the cooperative on the same basis.

Article 23. Members of the cooperative have the same rights in all of the cooperative’s activities regardless of age or gender:

1. The right to participate in the public work of the cooperative.

2. The right to receive compensation for work in accordance with the quantity and quality of the work, and to participate in the distribution of the harvest collected from cooperative land on condition all the labor obligations of the charter are fulfilled.

3. The right of a deciding and advisory vote during the discussion of all issues of the cooperative's activity at general meetings.

4. The right to elect and be elected to governing bodies of the cooperative, the right to demand the convening of a general meeting of members of the cooperative to improve the work or for criticism.

5. The right to freely leave the cooperative (in the event of a departure from the cooperative the land is returned on the basis of Article 7. Accounts with people who have left the cooperative should be made after the annual report).

Article 24. A member of a cooperative is obligated:

1. To observe the charter of the cooperative, to conscientiously comply with the decisions of the general meeting, precisely fulfill the instructions of the cooperative board, the chairman, and the team leader, and to fulfill the labor obligations specified by the charter.

2. To conscientiously observe labor discipline, to ensure the quality of the assigned work, and to strive to increase labor productivity.

3. To observe the sacred principle of the inviolability of public property and to keep it in good order.

4. To obey state laws and compensate for the loss of state and public property.

Article 25. In the event that a member of a cooperative does not observe the requirements or responsibilities of the charter or systematically performs his work badly, the general meeting can expel him from the cooperative. In this event the board of the cooperative can temporarily remove him from work before the decision of the general meeting.

A member of a cooperative can appeal an expulsion decision to the district people’s committee. In this event the issue is finally decided at a meeting of the presidium of the district people's committee with the participation of the chairman of the board of the cooperative and the people who have submitted the appeal.

VII. The organization of labor, labor discipline,

and recordkeeping

Article 26. Work in the cooperative is a responsibility and matter of honor of each member of the cooperative. A member of the cooperative must work no less than 150 labor days a year. A mother who has a child under age 2 is obligated to work 110 labor days a year. In the event of a prolonged illness or some other unfortunate accident the above provision does not extend to the member of the cooperative.

All the work of the cooperative is done directly by the labor of members of the cooperative; the use of hired labor is not permitted on principle. The use of hired labor is permitted in the event that members of the cooperative cannot perform special work of a seasonal nature at a set date by their own efforts. It is also permitted to enlist specialists in capital construction, agricultural equipment, animal husbandry, accounting workers, etc.

Article 27. The board of the cooperative creates appropriate work teams, considering the skills and characteristics of members of the cooperative, in order to maximally increase labor productivity. Depending on the object of the production activity the teams are divided into field, animal husbandry, fishing, etc. Permanent teams, which are the main form of the organization of labor, are organized. The composition of a team is formed for no less than two years. With the approval of the general meeting the board of the cooperative assigns a set plot of land to a field work team, and the farm implements, draft animals, structures, and production equipment to it which are necessary to fulfill the plan.

A work team is divided into links depending on the scale of the work and the degree of its mechanization. Members of the cooperative in a link are personally responsible for handling farm implements and caring for the livestock.

The household livestock, poultry, feed, and cattle pens needed to raise household livestock and poultry are assigned to an animal husbandry team. At the same time an animal husbandry team is given an production plan.

Ships, fishing equipment, and fishing locations are assigned to a fishing team and a production plan is given. The team leader organizes and directs all the work of the team in accordance with the instructions of the chairman of the board. The leader of a link directs the work of the link in accordance with the orders of the team leader.

The board of the cooperative can create temporary or seasonal teams to perform special work of a temporary or seasonal nature, distributing the labor force properly. The team leader distributes the work considering the degree of skill and capability of team members and bears responsibility for members of the cooperative totally demonstrating their abilities.

Family or friendly relations cannot be considered when distributing the work.

Article 28. The cooperative should correctly keep an account of the labor by quantity and quality. All the work is based on the principle of a piecework payment system, the results of the work are taken into consideration in the labor-days. The board of the cooperative establishes the rate of output by skill level and labor-day, which is then approved by the general meeting of cooperative members. Based on this a labor-day is accounted for in the following manner:

1. The team leader, daily taking precise account of the quantity and quality of the work of each team member by skill category, determines the labor-day, after which he reports this to team members at a daily team meeting (assembly) and writes it in the labor book of each team member. Accounting for labor-days in work where it is impossible to determine the quantity of work by skill category is done depending on how easy and labor-intensive the work is, the time, and the result of the work.

2. The board of the cooperative periodically receives information from a team leader, once every five days, about the number of labor-days worked by cooperative members, enters the labor days into a record book and, totaling [them] no less than twice a month, notifies cooperative members of the number of labor-days worked*.

*At the end of the reporting year two weeks, before the general reporting meeting which approves the distribution of the profit, the board of the cooperative notifies members of the cooperative of the total number of labor-days worked during the year.

3. The board of the cooperative and the chairman regularly monitor that an account is kept of the labor-days and take the necessary steps in this direction.

Article 29. Pregnant women are released from work a month before birth and for a month afterwards. During this time they are given 70% of the average labor-day worked during the preceding year.

Article 30. In the event the work is correctly organized, there is a conscientious attitude toward the matter, an increase of labor productivity, a savings of materials, and an over-fulfillment of the production plan, the board of the cooperative with the approval of the general meeting adds an additional 5-10% of the labor days worked during the year to the members of a team (including the team leader) except those who did not fulfill their responsibilities conscientiously. And, on the contrary, if the work was organized incorrectly and they did not regard it conscientiously, as a result of which the production plan was not fulfilled, 5-10% of the labor days worked during the year is deducted from the members of the team who are guilty of this (including the team leader).

Article 31. Members of a cooperative bear a personal, and also public responsibility, for the work being done.

If members of a cooperative do not observe the charter because of a careless or irresponsible attitude, ruin cooperative property, do not have a conscientious attitude toward the work, or violate labor discipline, the general meeting gives the guilty parties a warning, reprimand, strict reprimand, or a deduction of five labor-days; in individual cases, labor-days are not recorded for work not done conscientiously.

If the aforementioned measures turn out to insufficient to impose an appropriate punishment the board can raise the issue of expulsion with the general meeting.

Article 32. Theft of cooperative and state property and a harmful attitude toward state agricultural machines are viewed as a betrayal of the common cause of the cooperative and aid to enemies of the people. Such actions are punished by a court according to the law.

Article 33. The board of the cooperative should organize production competition education between individual members of the cooperative, links, and teams.

VIII. Property and Distribution

Article 34. When joining the cooperative each member of the cooperative pays an entry fee of 100 won. The entry fees are not returned.

Article 35. The cooperative excludes [the following] from the overall income from agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing, and other subsidiary industries:

1. State taxes and, first of all, the agricultural tax in kind.

2. Expenses for the use of tractors and horses of machine- and horse-rental stations, irrigation structures, expenses for the return of seed loans, fertilizer, forage, and other production expenses.

3. The seed and forage stocks needed for the next year.

4. The expenses of the cooperative's board, debts, and all the remaining payments.

Article 36. Five to 10% of the remaining part of the income goes to the social accumulation fund and 2-3% to the sociocultural fund. The social accumulation fund is spent on the purchase of working and household livestock, agricultural machinery, and for capital construction. The sociocultural fund is spent on training personnel, the upkeep of the nurseries, and holding sociocultural events and technical measures, on treating patients who have lost the ability to work during work in the cooperative, and aiding the families of servicemen and families of patriots who have died. The social fund and sociocultural fund is not returned to people expelled or who have left the cooperative.

Article 37. Twenty per cent of the overall profit remaining after deduction on the basis of Article 36 is distributed among members of the cooperative in accordance with the size of the land holdings transferred to the cooperative, and the remaining fund is distributed by labor-days. In the event that a member of the cooperative who has land did not work the certain quantity of labor-days provided by Article 26 (with the exception of cases when the member of the cooperative was ill for an extended time) he is deprived of the right to receive the profit distributed in accordance with the size of the land contribution.

Article 38. The harvest obtained from land reclaimed or opened up by the personnel of the cooperative, and also from land received from the state for temporary use is distributed by labor-days after the deductions provided by Article 36.

Article 39. The board of the cooperative draws up an annual budget which is approved at the general meeting of members of the cooperative. The chairman bears the responsibility for administration of the budget. Violations of the budget articles and overspending are not permitted.

All changes to the budget are approved by the general meeting.

Article 40. During the year members of the cooperative can be given a monetary advance of up to 30% of the monetary income provided for the year if the economic situation of the cooperative allows this.

An advance in kind can be given of up to 70% of the production remaining after payment of obligatory deliveries to the state and deductions for the cooperative's production expenses.

The cooperative's cash should be kept in a bank.

Article 41. The annual report is drawn up at the end of the economic year by the board of the cooperative and approved by the general meeting of the cooperative.

Supplement

Article 42. A cooperative's charter enters into force after registration at the district people's committee and is obligatory for all members of the cooperative.

Translated by Kovalev.

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