The Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Light Industry and the Mongolian Stock Exchange recently signed a cooperation agreement as the first step to establishing a livestock commodity exchange. A draft law on this has to be approved by Parliament before work can begin in right earnest. The Ministry will be responsible for preparing the rules and methods of offering farm products on sale and the Stock Exchange will develop an electronic trading system with links to the provinces. It is hoped this will free herders from the clutches of traders and thus guarantee a fair price for livestock products.