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11 Rev. Socialist L. 173 (1985)
Two Contracts with Individual Farmers in the USSR

handle is hein.journals/rsl11 and id is 173 raw text is: Review of Socialist Law 11 (1985) 173-179 ©Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht. Printed in The Netherlands. 173 TWO CONTRACTS WITH INDIVIDUAL FARMERS IN THE USSR ALBERT KIRALFY Professor Emeritus of Law, London University Introduction In the early days after the Russian Revolution collective farms were required to produce agricultural products for the needs of the whole community, re- ceiving urban products in return. From 1928 a contract-based system was developed and model contracts were drawn up under a decree of 14 December. In 1933 a system of compulsory deliveries of certain staple products was sub- stituted, and no products might go to local open markets until the state quotas had been met. This meant that not even produce from the family plots of peasant households on collective farms were immune. By a decree of 4 July 1957 personal plot production was de-controlled and by a decree of 30 June 1958 the compulsory delivery system was replaced by a system of state purveyance or procurement contracts with the collective farms. This relaxation was due to post-Stalin reaction. In theory these con- tracts were voluntary, but this was probably a fiction. There was a two-tier price system with one price for production required by the State Economic Plan after study of the farm's possibilities, and a higher incentive price for the results of boosts of production. The products of personal plots excess to the consumer needs of the household could be disposed of in open markets subject to price control. This system worked quite well in eliminating circuity of distribution and in view of lack of facilities for refrigeration. Main cash crops were collectively produced and the privilege of a personal plot de- pended on active work on the collectivized lands. It is notable that the supplier under the procurement contract was the whole collective farm as a unit with legal personality. In the case of open market sales the peasant household, then called a collective farm household, made the contract directly with individual consumers through its represen- tative. A considerable change came with the spread of State farms, in which the farmers were employees and workers, and not members of the farm, as they were on collective farms. In spite of this they came to be allotted per- sonal plots of land as individuals from land disposable by the State Farms and, where such existed, out of unused land on collective farms. This was regulated by law and encouraged. The relevant sections in the main Russian Republic are Articles 56 and 65 of the Land Code of 1 July 1970.

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