One hundred Fairtrade producers from 30 developing countries around the world, will meet in London on September 9-12, will send a message to the 5th WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancun, Mexico (September 10-14) that trade should be used to promote development. The producers of fruit, cocoa, coffee, honey, rice, sugar and tea will put forward Fairtrade as the template for all world trade.
They will be attending the World Fairtrade Forum, organised by Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO), of which the Fairtrade Foundation is the UK partner. It will be the second international working meeting to discuss the policies and practices behind the Fairtrade Mark , which markets itself as “the only independent guarantee that producers in developing countries have received a fair price for their produce”.
Harriet Lamb, director of the Fairtrade Foundation and FLO board member, said: “World trade rules are currently topsy-turvy, protecting the rich and leaving the poor vulnerable. The WTO Development Round in Cancun must be about policy interventions and regulations which put development goals first. Fairtrade shows that with the right rules in place, trade can both facilitate development and be commercially viable.”
At special sessions to discuss what is happening simultaneously at Cancun, the producers at the FLO Forum will say that Fairtrade is an economic model that demands serious attention.
“Farmers' organisations supplying to Fairtrade, often composed of very poor smallholders, are showing that they can compete with some of the world's biggest multinationals, in some of the world's most cut-throat commodities, and survive.” says John Kanjagaile, export manager, Kagera Co-operative Union, Tanzania. “With the guaranteed prices of Fairtrade, farmers can begin to invest in the futures of their communities: in education or health schemes, in building up their organisations or improving the quality or diversity of their crop bases.”
Kanjagaile will also be one of the panelists at a Question Time-style debate entitled Fair Trade Rules to be held on the evening of September 8. The ëfree trade vs fair trade' debate will launch the Forum and give the public and Fairtrade supporters the chance to debate the issues surrounding Cancun with trade experts.
Other members of the panel will include Valerie Amos, secretary of state, department for international development, who will represent the UK at Cancun, and Robert Davies, ceo, Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum.
• UK sales of Fairtrade marked products rose by 90 per cent between 2000 and 2002 to an estimated retail value of £63 million. Overall international sales increased by 21 per cent by volume in 2002, in the 17 countries with FLO member organisations.
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